It is a fitting coincidence that I'm wearing largely black today. It's April 15, Tax Day. I'm writing this before I make out my check and further sour my mood.
No one likes to pay taxes, but it's a necessary evil. The government must do some things, and that takes money. The question is how much money and whose.
The debates about "sharing the wealth" and transfer payments and "paying your fair share" all boil down to this:
Some people think there is a certain amount of money beyond which you have no claim to your earnings. And they think they should get to decide what that is.
And the number keeps going down. They get stars in their eyes and wild ideas of all the good they could do if they just had a little more of your money. So brace yourselves; it's about to get worse.
Some tax-related reading for your ... well, enjoyment certainly isn't the right word:
The Preemptive Tax Revolt
Obama's promised tax increase on "the rich" "will raise almost $700 billion [over 10 years], or only enough to cover about half of the budget deficit this year alone."
Europe's VAT Lessons
VAT taxes start low then grow and never lower income tax rates.
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1 comment:
Very good points. Another very important trick used by them: They collect the taxes step by step. First the income tax, then the gas tax, property taxes, insurance tax, sales tax, VAT tax etc. and that works to conceal the total amount!
If all the taxes someone EVER pays to government were COMBINED IN ONE TAX (like the Fair-Tax proposal), then the voters would realize how outrageously big government's share is and revolt.
A sales tax or VAT tax also has a psychological function: It allows the taxpayer to have a larger amount of money in his wallet, in his bank account and the tax is collected only once he eventually spends the money. So he gets the impression of lower taxes when he looks at how much he has, not realizing he will eventually spend all of it and pay another tax *then*
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