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Comment by redslazer | Hacker News Reader

Whether it is a fee or tax is less about whether it funds the government and more about whether when you pay the amount you get some benefit that you wouldn’t if you didn’t pay (above and beyond compliance with tax law). For example a fishing licence is a fee while a flood levy is a tax.

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Yes, I understood that (and stated as much). The first part made sense to me. It is the second that I find perplexing.

> By contrast, ‘taxes’ are expected to ‘inure[] to the benefit’ of the wider public.

That seems to apply to both taxes and fees as far as I can tell. It seems to me that a tax can primarily be distinguished by virtue of not qualifying as a fee. Put another way, are not fees paid to a government a subset of taxes much as squares are a subset of rectangles?

But then sales taxes are fees, no?

It does all seem a bit arbitrary doesn't it? If you frame it as purchasing the privilege of purchasing a certain quantity of arbitrary goods denominated in dollars then it sure looks like a fee. But obviously that isn't what is meant.

At the end of the day shall-issue permits, hyper specialized taxes, and fees all seem to amount to the same thing. However I think you can probably construct a reasonable criteria based on whether or not the other side of the transaction is fulfilled by the government and whether or not it is legal to do the thing by default. By that logic sales taxes and car tabs would indeed be taxes while fishing and camping permits would both be fees.

No, because the government collecting sales tax isn't a party to the transaction. The fee itself needs to be in exchange for a good, but the government is giving you anything marginal in exchange for sales tax, instead it's going into accounts spent for public good.

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