Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Tell me what's wrong with this income tax model

n0nsensical · 04-05-2005, 01:51 AM

scout, I have thought about the idea of a true flat tax or even completely abolishing income tax in favor of a national sales tax (like Ahhnold becoming President, that'll never happen because we'd need some serious Constitutional amending, but it's an interesting thought). But yes, I DO see progressive taxes as more fair. Think about it, usually supporters of regressive taxes lean middle-to-upper class libertarian and don't want the government interfering with their lives by taking so much of their money. But regressive taxes do the same thing except to the lower class, because they spend a more significant proportion of their income on basic survival. Sure, they might be in the lower class because they're lazy, but that's not true of many of them, and even so I support the right of lazy people to survive as well, as long as they're not breaking laws at the same time. It's to everyone's benefit not to have a bunch of homeless and/or criminals running around, which I think would be a larger problem if more burden of taxation was shifted to lower income.

I don't exactly agree with the current implementation of progressive taxes, but that's why I'm thinking about a better way. And yes, at the same time, I believe the government does too much to help people who are unwilling to help themselves and spends far too much money on everything in general. Completely ignoring this proposal and just considering the current system, I would say the best single change that could be made is to shift the some of burden back from the middle class to the $300,000+ upper class.

Yakk, how about the trucker sets up a sole proprietorship and reports the $30,000 as its profit?

04-05-2005, 01:51 AM	#22 (permalink)
n0nsensical Junkie Location: San Francisco	scout, I have thought about the idea of a true flat tax or even completely abolishing income tax in favor of a national sales tax (like Ahhnold becoming President, that'll never happen because we'd need some serious Constitutional amending, but it's an interesting thought). But yes, I DO see progressive taxes as more fair. Think about it, usually supporters of regressive taxes lean middle-to-upper class libertarian and don't want the government interfering with their lives by taking so much of their money. But regressive taxes do the same thing except to the lower class, because they spend a more significant proportion of their income on basic survival. Sure, they might be in the lower class because they're lazy, but that's not true of many of them, and even so I support the right of lazy people to survive as well, as long as they're not breaking laws at the same time. It's to everyone's benefit not to have a bunch of homeless and/or criminals running around, which I think would be a larger problem if more burden of taxation was shifted to lower income. I don't exactly agree with the current implementation of progressive taxes, but that's why I'm thinking about a better way. And yes, at the same time, I believe the government does too much to help people who are unwilling to help themselves and spends far too much money on everything in general. Completely ignoring this proposal and just considering the current system, I would say the best single change that could be made is to shift the some of burden back from the middle class to the $300,000+ upper class. Yakk, how about the trucker sets up a sole proprietorship and reports the $30,000 as its profit? __________________ "Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln