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Implement a flat tax. That would make it easier to collect taxes (and I'm not even saying whether taxation levels should be higher or lower than now. Just pick

Implement a flat tax. That would make it easier to collect taxes (and I'm not even saying whether taxation levels should be higher or lower than now. Just pick a rate and get rid of the exemptions). Sadly it would result in less people employed as tax collectors, so tax collectors won't advocate that. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

XorNot 5y ago
A flat tax is a tax hike on the poorest % of Americans if you try to maintain current spending (hint: you have to, because the US is carrying trillions in debt and spends more then any other country on Earth on it's military). The taxable burden you'll impose on people for whom every dollar is the difference between essential services, versus the wealthy for whom every dollar is the difference between more investment in their offshore bank account (which they have no incentive not to keep using, because why pay any tax if you don't have to?)
zbrozek 5y ago
There's also going to be a lot of people complaining that flat taxes are regressive because the marginal value of money is different depending on how much you have. Taking that to its logical conclusion means taxing or subsidizing everyone to exactly the same buying power. I'd rather see a no-deduction, no-exception flat tax that treats all income the same coupled with a UBI to give people a flexible but modestly uncomfortable safety net. Personally I care less about equality and more about fairness. Getting rid of complexity and giving everyone equal access to the benefits of and the burden to support society while reducing complexity and compliance costs sounds great to me. And it still sounds great if my tax burden doesn't change one iota when implemented. If society feels that it's bad to have a handful of mega rich people, look at modifying the competition laws that let their empires get too big in the first place.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > There's also going to be a lot of people complaining that flat taxes are regressive because the marginal value of money is different depending on how much you have. Taking that to its logical conclusion means taxing or subsidizing everyone to exactly the same buying power. Er, no, it means assessing the marginal utility curve and taxing everyone an amount that represents the same share of the pre-tax utility of their income, if you believe that taxes should be flat when viewed through a utility rather than dollar lens. That's very different than taxing or subsidizing to the same end value. In fact, its just a progressive tax.

XorNot 5y ago

A flat tax is a tax hike on the poorest % of Americans if you try to maintain current spending (hint: you have to, because the US is carrying trillions in debt and spends more then any other country on Earth on it's military). The taxable burden you'll impose on people for whom every dollar is the difference between essential services, versus the wealthy for whom every dollar is the difference between more investment in their offshore bank account (which they have no incentive not to keep using, because why pay any tax if you don't have to?)

zbrozek 5y ago

There's also going to be a lot of people complaining that flat taxes are regressive because the marginal value of money is different depending on how much you have. Taking that to its logical conclusion means taxing or subsidizing everyone to exactly the same buying power. I'd rather see a no-deduction, no-exception flat tax that treats all income the same coupled with a UBI to give people a flexible but modestly uncomfortable safety net. Personally I care less about equality and more about fairness. Getting rid of complexity and giving everyone equal access to the benefits of and the burden to support society while reducing complexity and compliance costs sounds great to me. And it still sounds great if my tax burden doesn't change one iota when implemented. If society feels that it's bad to have a handful of mega rich people, look at modifying the competition laws that let their empires get too big in the first place.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> There's also going to be a lot of people complaining that flat taxes are regressive because the marginal value of money is different depending on how much you have. Taking that to its logical conclusion means taxing or subsidizing everyone to exactly the same buying power. Er, no, it means assessing the marginal utility curve and taxing everyone an amount that represents the same share of the pre-tax utility of their income, if you believe that taxes should be flat when viewed through a utility rather than dollar lens. That's very different than taxing or subsidizing to the same end value. In fact, its just a progressive tax.