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Morality. Income tax is theft. A lean national government can work off tariffs and fees alone. Local governments can supplement that with sales tax.
by stronglikedan 3y ago
Morality. Income tax is theft. A lean national government can work off tariffs and fees alone. Local governments can supplement that with sales tax.
- badcppdev 3y agoWhy is income tax theft but sales tax not? Surely selling your time for money is analogous to selling an object for money
- danpalmer 3y agoSales tax has a disproportionate negative impact those at the lower end of the socio-economic scale, whereas income tax is easier to balance.
- qwerasdf5 3y agoSales tax can have exclusions, just as income tax does.
- danpalmer 3y agoSales tax can't really exclude people based on ability to pay though. I've never heard of a means-tested sales tax, it's not practical. You can exclude basics, in the UK our VAT which is similar to a sales tax is not applied to most groceries, kids clothing, etc. It's easier to just have an income/property/land/inheritance tax, things that target wealth or income, vs things that target spending. Those with less money tend to spend a higher proportion of their money, so taxing spending targets them.