Fair Taxation

[joeydb]

If you were in charge of revenue generation for the government, which tax system would you implement as the most "fair"?

[timmgirvan]

Fair tax is the best for my money

[SOREHOOF]

What is considered fair? I'm sure a lot of people think that the more you make the higher your rate should be is fair. It doesn't seem fair to me that almost half of this country pays no income taxes. It doesn't seem fair to me to keep beating up on ciggy smokers. New $1.60 tax per pack in NY.

[joeydb]

My personal opinion is that one rate is the way to go. Why? Because "fair" cannot be defined mathematically. The closest we will ever come to fair is "proportional". And that means one rate. Take the first, I don't know, say, $50,000. Nobody pays taxes on their first $50k. Anything above that is at the same rate, whether you make $55,000 or $550,000. The same fraction of your income goes to the government. That's it.

[SOREHOOF]

Originally Posted by joeydb

My personal opinion is that one rate is the way to go. Why? Because "fair" cannot be defined mathematically. The closest we will ever come to fair is "proportional". And that means one rate. Take the first, I don't know, say, $50,000. Nobody pays taxes on their first $50k. Anything above that is at the same rate, whether you make $55,000 or $550,000. The same fraction of your income goes to the government. That's it.

I'll go along with that.

[Patrick333]

Originally Posted by joeydb

My personal opinion is that one rate is the way to go. Why? Because "fair" cannot be defined mathematically. The closest we will ever come to fair is "proportional". And that means one rate. Take the first, I don't know, say, $50,000. Nobody pays taxes on their first $50k. Anything above that is at the same rate, whether you make $55,000 or $550,000. The same fraction of your income goes to the government. That's it.

As long as Congress doesn't exempt itself from it and the rate is "fair", it sounds good to me.

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by joeydb

My personal opinion is that one rate is the way to go. Why? Because "fair" cannot be defined mathematically. The closest we will ever come to fair is "proportional". And that means one rate. Take the first, I don't know, say, $50,000. Nobody pays taxes on their first $50k. Anything above that is at the same rate, whether you make $55,000 or $550,000. The same fraction of your income goes to the government. That's it.

In principal, it sounds good, but we would self destruct as a country.

[Honu]

I like the idea of a sales tax on all items bought or sold, non-essential items being taxed more than say food and clothes and toilet paper. No income tax at all.

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by GBBob

In principal, it sounds good, but we would self destruct as a country.

If we continue to spend like drunken sailors, yeah, we're cooked, but we could definitely bring in enough revenue with a flat system for reasonable expenditure. We would need to finally rid ourselves of many unending and ineffectual government programs.

We have to also take into account that a simple system with no "bracket creep" would also stimulate the economy too, because everybody from laborers to entrepeneurs would be able to make profits without a "gotcha" of getting slammed in a new bracket.

If individuals or companies know they can make a buck they will not hold back on some of the hiring and expansion that creates new jobs.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by SOREHOOF

What is considered fair? I'm sure a lot of people think that the more you make the higher your rate should be is fair. It doesn't seem fair to me that almost half of this country pays no income taxes. It doesn't seem fair to me to keep beating up on ciggy smokers. New $1.60 tax per pack in NY.

It's called the " Fair Tax"...there are books out there explaining it! Fo reals..