But will that be effective too? I guess I look at the CEOs who take a symbolic $1 salary-- they're reliant on either selling their plumped securities and other

But will that be effective too? I guess I look at the CEOs who take a symbolic $1 salary-- they're reliant on either selling their plumped securities and other assets (at a low capital-gains tax rate) or borrowing against them (at zero tax rate) to actually cash out living expenses. The right answer is to just nationalize profitable industries and use them as direct revenue streams. This eliminates much of the need for a formal tax-assessment (return processing, auditing, etc.) system, creating an immediate user-experience improvement and streamlining, and cuts out a lot of the opportunities to cheat. It's not like you can use creative accounting to boost your gas mileage (and reduce your spend at a state-run oil company). Not to mention the huge opportunities to manage for social/political aims (i. e. a state-run telecom will probably honour build-out commitments better than Verizon, because their jobs are all directly accountable to angry legislators)