Rather that repost, it is here http://forums.somd.com/showthread.php?p=854621&posted=1#post854621
A good argument from Hamilton for a VAT
- Thread starter 2ndAmendment
- Start date
The VAT is a great idea if you ask me...much better than a national retail tax, which I believe would disporportionately harm the poor and middle class. The beauty of the VAT is its fairness...taxes imports helping our domestic market and it taxes investment transactions which mostly affects the affluent. It is a system that is far preferrential to our current 1,000 page tax code.
I also like the idea of providing all Americans a $30,000 income deduction while all income over that level is taxed at a constant 30%.
I also like the idea of providing all Americans a $30,000 income deduction while all income over that level is taxed at a constant 30%.
B
Bruzilla
Guest
It all sounds good RR, but my concern is with taxing the wealthy too much. I lived in England for a while, and they had a VAT there. Everything you buy has a VAT on it, even some unusualy things. For example, if you go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac meal to to eat there, there's no VAT. But if you get the meal to go, there's a VAT added. VATs are added to just about every product that a consumer buys and is paid either directly at the point of sale, or indirectly by paying VATs that are passed along through the production chain. So I guess I don't see much difference between a VAT and sales tax.
I'm also concerned about taxing the wealthy too much. The Brits have some of the highest taxes on wealth there, and as a result most of their wealthy have either moved to the US or have their money here. If you inflict a lot of higher taxes on the wealthy in the US, they aren't going to just open their checkbooks and start writing paper to Uncle Sam... they're going to move it offshore. When that happens we'll be like the Brits who have to pay more and more taxes to make up for the windfall from the rich that's never really materialized.
I'm also concerned about taxing the wealthy too much. The Brits have some of the highest taxes on wealth there, and as a result most of their wealthy have either moved to the US or have their money here. If you inflict a lot of higher taxes on the wealthy in the US, they aren't going to just open their checkbooks and start writing paper to Uncle Sam... they're going to move it offshore. When that happens we'll be like the Brits who have to pay more and more taxes to make up for the windfall from the rich that's never really materialized.