Wednesday 5 November 2014

Tax Recommendations

Mindles H. Dreck has some thoughts on how retailers engage in "progressive" taxation via price policies - An interesting point I hadn't thought about. What really struck me, however, was the link to the Jane Galt tax plan written in November:

"Well, here's the Jane Galt version, guaranteed to please no one but its author:
1) Get rid of all our poverty programs, except those aimed at the disabled, and temporary unemployment assistance, and institute the negative income tax. That is to say, the system should be continuously progressive, from a steep negative rate of up to 100% on very low earners, gradually declining until it zeroes out around $28,000 a year, and then rising gradually until it maxes out around 35% on the top brackets.

2) Eliminate FICA and pay for Social Security and Medicare out of general revenue. It's time to stop pretending it's a pension system, when there are no assets in the "trust fund"

3) Eliminate the corporate income tax

4) Eliminate the special treatment for capital gains. All income should be taxed at the same level, regardless of its source.

5) Eliminate all deductions. Period, end of statement. No mortgate, student, child, etc. All causes are equally worthy in the eyes of the person who possesses the deduction; it is a waste of our time as a nation to sit around arguing about who deserves what.

6) Just say no to the Value Added Tax. In theory, it's a good tax. In practice, because it is extremely hard to tell what proportion of the price of anything represents the tax, it removes the good and natural pressure upon tax rates.

7) Get rid of the estate tax, and tax the capital gains on whatever is sold."

I particularly liked #5 but then they need to be taken as a whole. She goes on to explain why for each of these, then concludes: "So that's Jane's plan. As you can see, it would be efficient, fair, and has absolutely no chance of ever getting passed..."

Now, isn't that the damn problem? If something makes sense, has practicality, and solves numerous problems, it has "no chance of ever getting passed" because of politics, special interests, and a tendency towards maintaining corrupt relationships because they provide advantages to one group over another, e.g. rent seeking activities.

What is a libertarian to do? Bitch, I suppose... and help dump the entrenched incumbents.

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