I think profit-based taxes are inherently inefficient and warp the economy in unexpected ways. It isn't well designed to collect revenue, and can easily make an economy poorer on the whole.
I think all business taxes are inherently regressive. It's entirely possible that in reality, investors bear the cost of business taxes to a higher extent than the poor. We are always finding ways human behavior deviates from any model. But given the inherent uncertainty, I find it preferable to tax the population directly.
That said, I think people have a low appetite for tax. A sales tax rate of 10% is sufficient to encourage tax avoidance. An indirect tax is an excellent way to raise revenue without raising the ire of the citizens. But we should be aware that we're buying more government than we'd agree to in a fair argument, and the government is ceding control of tax equality (whether it's regressive, progressive or some abomination of "flat") to the same entities we (particularly liberals) say can't be trusted with autonomy in so many other areas.
It's an area of hypocrisy that I think undermines a fair number of liberal values and goals.
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Date: 23/2/12 16:28 (UTC)I think all business taxes are inherently regressive. It's entirely possible that in reality, investors bear the cost of business taxes to a higher extent than the poor. We are always finding ways human behavior deviates from any model. But given the inherent uncertainty, I find it preferable to tax the population directly.
That said, I think people have a low appetite for tax. A sales tax rate of 10% is sufficient to encourage tax avoidance. An indirect tax is an excellent way to raise revenue without raising the ire of the citizens. But we should be aware that we're buying more government than we'd agree to in a fair argument, and the government is ceding control of tax equality (whether it's regressive, progressive or some abomination of "flat") to the same entities we (particularly liberals) say can't be trusted with autonomy in so many other areas.
It's an area of hypocrisy that I think undermines a fair number of liberal values and goals.