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That's one reason, in practice, for the popularity I think. When a state proposes raising income tax on the one hand, or sales tax on the other hand, raising sa

That's one reason, in practice, for the popularity I think. When a state proposes raising income tax on the one hand, or sales tax on the other hand, raising sales tax is often easier to accomplish, because the lobbies against it are weaker. (There might also be a psychological aspect in that it's more of a nickel-and-diming: people may not realize what it adds up to in terms of a yearly total, while they do see that for income taxes.)

1123581321 14y ago
It is actually because it is nearly guaranteed to be collectible when it is attached to inelastic goods which are needed by everybody. On the other hand, raising things like estate tax and income tax increases the amount of legal tax dodging through trusts, municipal bonds and the like so it's unpredictable and difficult to collect. This dates back to a reversal of Andrew Mellon's prudent and lucrative tax policies by FDR and Morgenthau, who turned to gasoline and alcohol taxes to cover shortfalls caused by their extremely high progressive income tax rates, and since then high earners have gotten in the habit of tax avoidance regardless of current political and fiscal strategies, permanently entrenching the regressive taxes as necessary.
- _delirium 14y ago
  I'm not sure I buy that as a "because". I think it's more likely sales taxes are passed preferentially because income taxes are more often defeated in legislatures due to political opposition, not because of technocratic arguments about collectibility. It would be interesting to have some numbers on collectibility, though. Both income taxes and sales taxes can be dodged (black-market purchases and out-of-state online purchases are two common ways of dodging sales taxes). There are a number of examples of states raising either one, and it'd be interesting if someone has extracted data on the results.
jonknee 14y ago
It's also easier because it's a state issue (national politics always get more coverage) and usually tied to something people can actually see or understand (we're raising the sales tax .25% for 15 years to fund mass transit).

1123581321 14y ago

It is actually because it is nearly guaranteed to be collectible when it is attached to inelastic goods which are needed by everybody. On the other hand, raising things like estate tax and income tax increases the amount of legal tax dodging through trusts, municipal bonds and the like so it's unpredictable and difficult to collect. This dates back to a reversal of Andrew Mellon's prudent and lucrative tax policies by FDR and Morgenthau, who turned to gasoline and alcohol taxes to cover shortfalls caused by their extremely high progressive income tax rates, and since then high earners have gotten in the habit of tax avoidance regardless of current political and fiscal strategies, permanently entrenching the regressive taxes as necessary.

_delirium 14y ago
I'm not sure I buy that as a "because". I think it's more likely sales taxes are passed preferentially because income taxes are more often defeated in legislatures due to political opposition, not because of technocratic arguments about collectibility. It would be interesting to have some numbers on collectibility, though. Both income taxes and sales taxes can be dodged (black-market purchases and out-of-state online purchases are two common ways of dodging sales taxes). There are a number of examples of states raising either one, and it'd be interesting if someone has extracted data on the results.

jonknee 14y ago

It's also easier because it's a state issue (national politics always get more coverage) and usually tied to something people can actually see or understand (we're raising the sales tax .25% for 15 years to fund mass transit).