4 ms·

Sure, but those other problems need funding.

• mytailorisrich 4y ago
  Tax levels are high and tax are being collected. Governments aren't short of money because of tax evasion. Tax evasion is not a top priority however you look at it... the argument sounds like "but think of the children" to justify things that are actually motivated by other aims and/or ideological reasons.
  • pastacacioepepe 4y ago
    My country loses about €32 billions in yearly income due to tax evasion. That's the amount of money that could change many lives if used right. Instead we're cutting benefits to the poor bto reduce our deficit. Tax evasion is a top priority.
    • CogitoCogito 4y ago
      Another solution is to just increase taxes until you end up with €32 billion in increased revenue. An advantage is also that this solution is actually _possible_ (as opposed to getting rid of all tax evasion).
      • pastacacioepepe 4y ago
        But then you are just punishing those that actually pay taxes by making them pay more, while those who evade keep doing it. Also I doubt it would be possible, as raising taxes in the current economical and political climate is a political suicide.
        • CogitoCogito 4y ago
          Personally I think you just have the wrong perspective. Increasing enforcement to decrease tax evasion _is_ raising taxes. And affected groups will fight very hard against enforcement so I don't really see why you think that approach is somehow easier. And you seem be talking about the elimination of tax evasion as if it's actually possible. Clearly it is not. The amount of tax evasion can potentially be decreased through policy and effort and we just need to decide how much we accept. Maybe the current level _is_ acceptable? In any case, some level must be acceptable. What level is acceptable to you?* *This is a trick question. It's basically unanswerable without knowing the cost of enforcement (which increasing asymptotically as the amount of evasion goes to zero). But it is a reality that everyone should probably come to terms with.
    • sgjohnson 4y ago
      • michaelmrose 4y ago
        Most states are complex structures largely manipulated by a tiny number of people for the benefit of themselves and the top echelon so as to capture the vast majority of the wealth created by everyone for a minority of nonproductives whos contribution is owning things as opposed to doing useful work. Erasing every obligation they presently possess to the functional state that enabled the nonproductive to live in wealth and luxury seems like an incredibly bad idea for them and us. Everyone deserves health care, fire suppression, police to respond to criminal behavior, courts, a national defense and a defense of democracy against terrorists and would be fascists and others who would overthrow it. Some things like health care can be provided albeit exceptionally poorly with a ridiculously bad ROI by a mixed private / public system. Others are ridiculous to imagine. For example if you privatize the military you create a single concentration of power that could trivially be bought out by anyone wanting to shitcan democracy tomorrow. If it were possible to effectively run a large society like that one would suppose that in thousands of years one would have been so constituted.
        • sgjohnson 4y ago
          I do realise that. I’m not against all (or fair) taxation. I just sympathize with people who manage to get away with tax evasion. Sentences like “the state lost €30bn of revenue because of tax evasion” rubs me the wrong way. It’s not too far off from saying “mugger lost €500 of revenue because the potential victim ran away”. I do realise it’s a fallacy—it’s just not too far off.
          • michaelmrose 4y ago
            It's not "not far off" It's a defective fantasy. You are part of a society entirely based on pooling money through taxation and using it to pay for the things that make your entire life possible. The only people in a position to meaningfully move the needle as far as tax evasion are the rich who overwhelmingly are the folks who benefit from tax evasion and the people most harmed by austerity are the poor who lose benefits essential to their continued existence. Tax evasion is overwhelmingly the rich stealing from the poor.
    • eddsh1994 4y ago
      Tax the large companies properly first, then come after the little people.
• coldtea 4y ago
  The most pressing issue is the amount of funding wasted by bureaucrats, corporate tax deductions, subsidies to their friends, and so on... So no...