If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, there is no cogent and respectable argument for why income from labor is taxed at a higher rate than income from capital.
I hope we start there, a very simple and straightforward action to take.
I hope we start there, a very simple and straightforward action to take.
If you’re looking for what to tax instead of income, the best things are: land, pollution and consumption.
Land is great because people will not use less of it, no matter how high the tax. Pollution is great to tax, because we want to produce less of it. Consumption (or purchases or spending) is good to tax because economic growth is good and this tax encourages investment rather than spending your wealth. The most common consumption taxes are the sales tax or VAT tax.
You may have heard of consumption taxes described as “regressive “, but that comes from looking at only part of the policy. For example, a universal basic income funded by a sales or VAT tax would see the poor better off than the rich.
Since apparently Carbon Dioxide is considered pollution now you have somehow defined the very action of living and working as taxable. Not going to end well.
Consumption tax leads to LESS investment because it leads to LESS viable companies over all. So unless you goal is More investement into a handful of megacorps you shouldn't do this.
Land tax is horrible because it's already our most abundant untapped resource, maybe in dense urban environments it might be justifiable, but that's it.
Stop trying all this dumb shit just say "suburban tax" if you want to make a tax that targets suburbanites. People appreciate honesty more than BS! Democracies can't function without it! The entire point of having representatives is to taxes that the people don't want, if they can't do that then American democracy has already failed decades before Trump.
Seems like wealth taxes would be a great target too then.
And what are the pros/cons and outcomes of your preferred alternative?
Lots of countries in the world operate without income taxes.
Okay, but "lots" feels untrue and saying "operate" is borderline deceptive - there are 21 that I can find from a random infographic [0]. Human rights superstars like the UAE, NK, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia; above-board corporate havens like the Cayman Islands; and places I can't come up with a quippy joke about like Monaco or Vatican City.
I'm no geopolitics expert, but it looks like one thing that "functional sovereign states meaningfully participating in the world stage without oil money or some clear outside source of capital" all have in common is income taxes.
[0] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-a-handy-list-of-cou...
Can you give some examples? Do you think you live better in those countries than those with taxes?
Less than one fifth of its revenue comes from federal sources. If its residents weren't paying federal income taxes, Florida could probably afford to increase its taxes to cover the difference.
In the US, local taxes—not federal taxes—pay for the majority of surface street maintenance, schools, emergency services, licensing regimes, health and safety inspections, unemployment insurance, etc. I.e., most of what one considers to be staples of the social contract in a well-administered society.
It seems as though you're implying income taxes are a prerequisite to some standard of living comparable to the US, but that presupposes that income taxes in the US actually pay for the things that make a place worth living in.
If all of those staples are paid for by local governments, then what do federal income taxes pay for? Retirees and military procurement, for the most part.
Can you imagine other ways to raise those funds?
Over one-quarter (26%) comes from Federal sources according to the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances.
Having 26% of your government funded by (Federal) income taxes sure sounds like Florida can't operate without income taxes. They simply outsource collection to another jurisdiction.
Regardless, I addressed your point already.
https://www.google.com/search?q=is%20land%20a%20big%20deal&i...
The issue is when we allow people who do not live or pay tax in this country to make profit on assets in said country. A landlord who lives in the Cayman Islands should not be able to collect rent on UK assets while not paying the UK government tax in turn.
most labor does not individually have the means to leave like that.
also, you're talking about capital moving as in already-invested capital, while I'm talking about the people with capital making decisions to invest in the first place.