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There are two possibilities. One is that Bill Gates and his descendents spend everything. In that case, the sales tax paid is the same. The other possibility i

There are two possibilities. One is that Bill Gates and his descendents spend everything. In that case, the sales tax paid is the same. The other possibility is that some of Bill Gates' money is never consumed. In this case it's effectively a tax of 100% - Gates produced wealth for the world and was never compensated for it. If the rich escape sales taxes, it's only because they provide benefits to the world without being compensated for it. Complaining about that is pretty silly, as is focusing on sales taxes while ignoring this.

rahimnathwani 12y ago
Yes, but now you're bringing Bill's descendants into the discussion. I agree with your extension of the term regressive to include an arbitrarily long time frame, but I don't buy the inclusion of an abitrarily long line of descendants. On your other point, I'm not complaining. I was just stating the fact that I will pay more sales tax (as a proportion of my lifetime income) than a richer person like Bill Gates. So, by the common definition of 'regressive tax', sales tax is a regressive tax. I'm not saying this is good or bad or neutral. Just that it is so, by definition. (BTW I don't like the term regressive tax, because the term 'regressive' sounds intuitively negative.)