Tax

A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a state, or to functional equivalents of a state, including tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements. Taxes may be paid in cash or in kind or as corvee labor. Modern capitalist taxation systems, which are designed to encourage the most efficient circulation of commodified goods and services, are levied in cash. In kind and corvee taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states and their functional equivalents. The means of taxation, and the uses to which the funds raised through taxation should be put, are a matter of hot dispute in politics and economics, so discussions of taxation are frequently tendentious. Public finance is the field of political science and economics that deals with taxation. ==Purposes and effects of taxation== Funds provided by taxation have been used by states and their functional equivalents throughout history to carry out the functions such as: * military defense, * enforcement of law and public order, * protection of property, * redistribution of wealth, * economic infrastructure — roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc., * public works, * the operation of government itself. Most modern governments also use taxes to fund social welfare and public services, such as: *education systems, *healthcare systems, *pensions for the elderly, *unemployment benefits *energy management, water management and waste management systems, *public transportation. Colonial states and moderning states have also used cash taxes to draw or force reluctant subsistence producers into cash economies. Governments use different kind of taxes and vary the tax rates: *to distribute the tax burden between individuals or classes of the population involved in taxable activities, such as business, *to redistribute resources between individuals or classes in the population. Historically, the nobility were supported by taxes on the poor; modern social security systems are intended to support the poor, the disabled or the retired by taxes on those who are still working, *to influence the macroeconomic performance of the economy (the government's strategy for doing this is called its fiscal policy) (see also tax exemption), *to modify patterns of consumption or employment within an economy, by making some classes of transaction more or less attractive. The resource taken from the public through taxation is always somewhat greater than the amount which can be used by the government. The difference is called ''compliance cost'', and includes for example the labour cost and other expenses incurred in complying with tax laws and rules. The collection of a tax in order to spend it on a specified purpose, for example collecting a tax on alcohol to pay directly for alcoholism rehabilitation centres, is called hypothecation. The practice is often disliked by finance ministers, since it reduces their freedom of action. Some economic theorists consider the concept to be intellectually dishonest since in reality money is fungibility. Furthermore, it often happens that taxes or excises initially levied to fund some specific government programs are then later diverted to the government general fund. In some cases, such taxes are collected in fundamentally inefficient ways, for example highway tolls. Some economists, especially neo-classical economics argue that all taxation distorts the market and results in economic inefficiency. They have therefore sought to identify the kind of tax system that would minimise this distortion. A theory is that the most economically ''neutral tax'' is a ''Land Value Tax''. A government's primary duty is to maintain and defend title to land, and therefore it should collect most of its revenues for this unique service. Since governments also resolve commercial disputes, especially in countries with common law, this doctrine is often used to justify a sales tax or value added tax. Others (e.g. Libertarianism) argue that most or all forms of taxes are immoral due to their involuntary (and therefore eventually coercive/violent) nature. The most extreme anti-tax (and anti-state) view is anarcho-capitalism, in which the provision of ''all'' social services should be a matter of voluntary private contracts. ==Tax rates== Taxes are most often levied as a percentage, called the tax rate, of a certain value, the tax base (how much income and assets one has, earns, spends, inherits, etcetera). An ''ad valorem'' tax is one where the tax base is the value of a good, service, or property. Sales taxes, tariffs, property taxes, inheritance taxes, and value added taxes are different types of ad valorem tax. An ad valorem tax is typically imposed at the time of a transaction (sales tax or value added tax (VAT)) but it may be imposed on an annual basis (property tax) or in connection with another significant event (inheritance tax or tariffs). The alternative to ad valorem taxation is a fixed rate tax, where the tax base is the quantity of something, regardless of its price: for example, in the United Kingdom, a tax is collected on the sale of alcoholic drinks that is calculated by volume and beverage type rather than the price of the drink. ==Progressive and regressive taxation== An important feature of tax systems is whether they are ''flat'' (the percentage does not depend on the base, hence the tax is proportional to how much you earn, have, or spend), ''regressive'' (the more you have the lower the tax rate), or ''progressive'' (the more you have the higher the tax rate). Progressive taxes reduce the tax burden of people with smaller incomes, since they take a smaller percentage of their income. Regressive taxes are less common but not unknown. ==Direct and indirect taxation== Taxes are sometimes referred to as ''direct'' or ''indirect''. The meaning of these terms can vary in different contexts, which can sometimes lead to confusion. In economics, ''direct'' taxes refer to those taxes that are paid by the people or organizations on whom they are imposed. For example, income taxes are paid by the person who earns the income. By contrast, the cost of ''indirect'' taxes is borne by someone other than the person responsible for paying them. For example, taxes on liquor or gasoline are often included in the price of the items, so even though the seller sends the payments to the government, the buyer is the real payer. Indirect taxes are sometimes described as ''hidden taxes'' because the purchaser of goods or services may not be aware that a proportion of the price is going to the government. In law, the terms may have different meanings. In US constitutional law, for instance, ''direct taxes'' refer to poll tax and property tax, which are based on simple existence or ownership. ''Indirect taxes'' are imposed on rights, privileges, and activities. Thus, a tax on the sale of property would be considered an indirect tax, whereas the tax on simply owning the property itself would be a direct tax. The distinction can be subtle, but it is important under US law, since the United States Constitution formerly required that direct taxes be apportioned according to population. That is, if one state had twice the population of another state, then the direct tax revenue from that state must be exactly twice that from the other state. In 1895, the Supreme Court of the United States interpreted the income tax as a direct tax when applied to income from property, and struck down the tax as a result. The federal government then had no income tax until the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, which removed the apportionment requirement for income taxes. ==Economics of taxation==

''Figure 1: Equilibrium''

Figure 1 indicates a good without any government interference. This good could represent anything from apples to zippers. At this equilibrium quantity Q1 of the good are sold at price P1. The consumer surplus and producer surplus are both high.

''Figure 2: With a tax''

Figure 2 shows the introduction of a very simple tax. The tax charges a flat fee whenever a consumer wishes to purchase the good. The price thus rises to P2, and since fewer consumers wish to purchase the good at the higher price, the quantity produced falls to Q2. The government receives the amount of the tax for each unit sold, and this amounts to the region shown in grey. This is the amount of revenue the government receives for this tax. Note that in this situation the price of the good to consumers only increases by half the amount of the tax, the other half of the tax is borne by the producer. Thus both consumer and producer surpluses shrink by equal amounts. For many goods this is not the case. Who bears the cost of the tax is determined by the elasticity (economics) of the good. For inelastic goods like cigarettes, and gasoline almost all of the tax is paid by the consumer.

''Figure 3: Net Societal Loss''

The tax is not a simple transfer of wealth from producers and consumers to government. A permanent ''loss'' of surplus occurs, shown in orange. This loss is often called dead weight loss. However, because this model greatly simplifies the economics of taxation, governments must weigh many other factors when choosing a tax system. ==Types of taxes== ===Income tax=== Income tax is commonly a progressive tax because the tax rate increases with increasing income. For this reason, it is generally advocated by those who think that taxation should be borne more by the rich than by the poor, even to the point of serving as a form of social redistribution. Some critics characterize this tax as a form of punishment for economic productivity. Other critics charge that income taxation is inherently socially intrusive because enforcement requires the government to collect large amounts of information about business and personal affairs, much of which could be considered proprietary. The crucial invention permitting the reliable collection of high income taxes was direct withholding of taxes from payrolls by employers; this works because most people in modern societies are salaried workers. This reduces the perceived burden of the tax, because employees never handle the money. Direct withholding also discourages cheating, because it requires the collaboration of employers, and as there are fewer employers than employees, the government's enforcement efforts can be deployed more effectively. However, direct withdrawal also has some drawbacks: it puts part of the burden of processing taxes on the employer, and it also complicates matters when the employee is in a situation where he or she should pay significantly less or more than what is expected from its salary (because of tax-deductible expenses, or side revenues). Direct withholding is the method of collection of choice in most countries implementing income taxes, with the exception of France, where direct withholding is periodically discussed, but has so far not been implemented. Where income tax is not collected at source, it may become easier to cheat by lying about one's affairs. The government may then require that employers report the amounts they pay to employees. Income tax, in addition to income, generally takes into account a variety of factors. Certain expenses, such as work-related expenses, donations to charities etc..., may be tax-deductible: that is, they are subtracted from the taxable revenue. Investments in some impoverished areas or industrial sectors may be encouraged through tax breaks (reduced rates). Donations to charities may be partly subtracted from the tax, in an original form of subsidy. Because of various exemptions, rebates etc..., income tax codes tend to be complicated. In some countries such as the United States, individuals often hire the service of a tax accountant so as to find the best way to reduce their tax. Income tax fraud is a problem in most, if not all, countries implementing an income tax. Either one fails to declare income, or declares nonexistent expenses. Failure to declare income is especially easy for non-salaried work, especially if paid in cash. Tax enforcement authorities fight tax fraud using various methods, nowadays with the help of computer databases. They may, for instance, look for discrepancies between declared revenue and expenses along time. Tax enforcement authorities then target individuals for a tax audit – a more or less detailed review of the income and tax-deductible expenses of the individual. Income tax may be collected from legal persons (companies) as well as natural persons (individuals), although, in some cases, the income tax is levied on a slightly different basis that the usual income tax and may be called a corporate tax or a corporate income tax. ===Retirement tax=== Some countries with social security systems, which provide income to retired workers, fund those systems with specific dedicated taxes. These often differ from comprehensive income taxes in that they are levied only on specific sources of income, generally wages and salary (in which case they are called payroll taxes). A further difference is that the total amount of the taxes paid by or on behalf of a worker is typically considered in the calculation of the retirement benefits to which that worker is entitled. Examples of retirement taxes include the FICA tax, a payroll tax that is collected from employers and employees in the United States to fund the country's Social Security (United States) system; and the National insurance (NICs) collected from employers and employees in the United Kingdom to fund the country's national insurance system. These taxes are sometimes regressive in their immediate effect. For example, in the United States, each worker, whatever his or her income, pays at the same rate up to a specified cap, but income over the cap is not taxed. A further regressive feature is that such taxes often exclude investment earnings and other forms of income that are more likely to be received by the wealthy. The regressive effect is somewhat offset, however, by the eventual benefit payments, which typically replace a higher percentage of a lower-paid worker's pre-retirement income. ===Capital gains tax=== A capital gain tax is the tax levied of the profit realised upon the sale of an asset. In many cases, the amount of a capital gain is treated as income and subject to the marginal rate of income tax. ===Corporation tax=== Corporate tax is a tax on corporate earnings (and often includes capital gains) of a company. Earnings are generally considered gross revenue less expenses. However, corporate expenses that relate to capital expenditures are rarely deducted in full (such as the entire cost of a company truck) and are often deducted over the useful life of the asset purchase. Generally, industrialized countries also use a regressive rate of tax upon corporate income. ===Poll tax=== A poll tax, also called a ''per capita tax'', or ''capitation tax'', is a tax that levies a set amount per individual. The earliest tax mentioned in the Bible of a half-shekel per annum from each adult Jew (Ex. 30:11-16) was a form of poll tax. Poll taxes are regressive, since they take the same amount of money (and hence, a higher proportion of income) for poorer individuals as for richer individuals. Poll taxes are difficult to cheat. ===Excises=== An excise is a type of ''ad valorem'' tax that is imposed at the time of a purchase or sale transaction (sales tax or value added tax (VAT)) or in connection with importation across a political border (tariffs). The tax base may be the purchase price or the declared value, or some standard estimate of a fair price: for example, the sales tax on used automobile purchases in the United States is determined with reference to a published list of prices. The purchase price may be disregarded. ====Purposes and effects of excises==== Excises on particular commodities are frequently hypothecated. For example, a fuel excise is often used to pay for public transportation, especially roads and bridges and for the protection of the environment. A special form of hypothecation arises where an excise is used to compensate a party to a transaction for alleged uncontrollable abuse: for example, a blank media tax is a tax on recordable media such as CD-Rs, whose proceeds are typically allocated to copyright holders. Critics charge that such taxes tax blindly those who make legitimate and illegitimate usages of the products; for instance, a person or corporation using CD-R's for data archival should not have to subsidize the producers of popular music. Excises (or exemptions from them) are also used to modify consumption patterns. For example, a high alcohol excise is used to discourage alcohol consumption, relative to other goods. This may be combined with hypothecation if the proceeds are then used to pay for the costs of treating illness caused by alcohol abuse. Similar taxes may exist on tobacco, pornography, etc..., and they may be collectively referred to as ''sin taxes''. A carbon tax is a tax on the consumption of carbon-based non-renewable fuels, such as petrol, diesel-fuel, jet fuels and natural gas. The object is to reduce the release of carbon into the atmosphere. In the United Kingdom, vehicle excise duty is an annual tax on vehicle ownership. ====Sales tax==== Sales taxes are a form of excise levied when a commodity is sold to its final consumer. They are generally held to discourage retail sales. The question of whether they are generally progressive or regressive is a subject of much current debate. People with higher incomes spend a lower proportion of them, so a flat-rate sales tax will tend to be regressive. It is therefore common to exempt food, utilities and other necessities from sales taxes, since poor people spend a higher proportion of their incomes on these commodities, so such exemptions would make the tax more progressive. The classic way of cheating on sales tax is to ask a merchant or service provider for a cash discount. The merchant pockets the cash and writes off the merchandise to shrinkage and the state fails to get the tax. ====Tariffs==== An import or export tariff (also called customs duty or impost) is a charge for the movement of goods through a political border. Tariffs discourage trade, and they may be used by governments to protect domestic industries. A proportion of tariff revenues is often hypothecated to pay government to maintain a navy or border police. The classic way of cheating a tariff is smuggling. ====Value added tax==== A value added tax (sometimes called a goods and services tax, as in Australia and Canada) applies the equivalent of a sales tax to every operation that creates value. To give an example, sheet steel is imported by a machine manufacturer. That manufacturer will pay the VAT on the purchase price, remitting that amount to the government. The manufacturer will then transform the steel into a machine, selling the machine for a higher price to a wholesale distributor. The manufacturer will collect the VAT on the higher price, but will remit to the government only the excess related to the "value added" (the price over the cost of the sheet steel). The wholesale distributor will then continue the process, charging the retail distributor the VAT on the entire price to the retailer, but remitting only the amount related to the distribution markup to the government. The last VAT amount is paid by the eventual retail customer who cannot recover any of the previously paid VAT. Economic theorists have argued that this minimises the market distortion resulting from the tax, compared to a sales tax. However, VAT is held by some to discourage production. VAT was historically used when a sales tax or excise tax was uncollectible. For example, a 30% sales tax is so often cheated that most of the retail economy will go off the books. By collecting the tax at each production level, and requiring the previous production level to collect the next level tax in order to recover the VAT previously paid by that production level, the theory is that the entire economy helps in the enforcement. In reality, forged invoices and the like demonstrate that tax evaders will always attempt to cheat the system. ===Property taxes=== A property tax is usually levied on the value of property owned, usually real estate. Property taxes may be charged on a recurrent basis, or upon a certain event. A common type of property tax is an annual charge on the ownership of real estate, where the tax base is the supposed value of the property. For a period of over 150 years from 1695 a window tax was levied in England, with the result that you can still see listed buildings with windows bricked up [http://www.absentiacerebra.com/Trips/UK/Pages/Image31.html] in order to save their owner's money. A similar tax existed in France, with similar results. The two most most common type of event driven property taxes are stamp duty, charged upon change of ownership, and inheritance tax, which is imposed in many countries on the estates of the deceased. In contrast with a tax on real estate, a land value tax is levied only on the unimproved value of the land. When real estate is held by a higher government unit or some other entity not subject to taxation by the local government, the taxing authority may receive a PILOT (finance) to compensate it for some or all of the foregone tax revenue. ====Transfer taxes==== Historically, in many countries, a contract needed to have a stamp affixed to make it valid. The charge for the stamp was either a fixed amount or a percentage of the value of the transaction. In most countries the stamp has been abolished but stamp duty remains. Stamp duty is levied in the UK on the purchase of shares and securities, the issue of bearer instruments, and certain partnership transactions. Its modern derivatives, stamp duty reserve tax and stamp duty land tax, are respectively charged on transactions involving securities and land. Stamp duty has the effect of discouraging speculative purchases of assets by decreasing liquidity. Taxes on currency transactions are known as Tobin taxes. See also: transfer tax, stamp duty ====Inheritance tax==== Some believe that inheritance taxes do not have any harmful effect on the economy and may even be beneficial as they encourage consumer spending by the elderly. However, they are also believed to discourage productivity and to disrupt the continuity of family-owned businesses. See also: allodial, death tax, estate tax, Pigovian tax ====Wealth (net worth) tax==== ''Main article: wealth (net worth) tax'' Some country's governments will require declaration of the tax payers balance sheet (assets and liabilities), and from that ask for a tax on net worth (assets minus liabilities), as a percentage of the net worth, or a percentage of the net worth exceeding a certain level. The tax is in place for both "natural person" and in some cases legal person. ====Personal property tax==== In many jurisdictions (including many American states), there is a general tax levied periodically on residents who own personal property within the jurisdiction. Vehicle and boat registration fees are subsets of this kind of tax. Usually, the tax is designed with blanket coverage but with large exceptions for obvious things like food and clothing. Househood goods are exempt as long as they are kept or used within the household. However, any otherwise non-exempt object can lose its exemption if regularly kept outside the household. Thus, tax collectors often monitor newspaper articles for stories about wealthy people who have lent art to museums for public display, because the artworks have then become subject to personal property tax. And if an artwork had to be sent to another state for some touch-ups, it may have become subject to personal property tax in ''that'' state as well. ==A history of taxation== Political authority has been used to raise capital throughout history. In many pre-monetary societies, such as the Inca, taxes were owed in labor. Taxation in labour was the basis of the Feudal system in medieval Europe. King Solomon of the Old Testament pointed to the need for taxes to be applied for civil purposes (1 Kings 4:7; 9:15; 12:4), and these amounts were increased during times of foreign occupation. In more sophisticated economies such as the Roman Empire, tax farming developed, as the central powers could not practically enforce their tax policy across a wide realm. The tax farmers were obligated to raise large sums for the government, but were allowed to keep whatever else they raised. The early Christians of the New Testament including Jesus supported the payment of taxes. "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's". It is even recognized as a duty whether as a "telos" on merchandise or travelers (Matt. 17:25), an annual "phoros" on property tax (Luke 20:22;23:2), a "kensos" or poll tax (Matt. 22:17; Mark 12:14), or the tribute money of a temple-tax (Matt. 17:24-27). There were certain times in the Middle Ages where the governments did not explicitly tax, since they were self supporting, owning their own land and creating their own products. The appearance of doing without taxes was however illusory, since the government's (usually the The Crown's) independent income sources depended on labour enforced under the feudal system, which is a tax exacted in kind. ===Historical forms of taxation=== In monetary economies prior to fiat banking, a critical form of taxation was seigniorage, the tax on the creation of money. Seigniorage has been replaced by central banking. Other obsolete forms of taxation include: *scutage - paid in lieu of military service; strictly speaking a commutation of a non-tax obligation rather than a tax as such, but functioning as a tax in practice *tallage - a tax on feudal dependents *a tithe - a tax, or more precisely a tax-like payment, (one tenth of one's earnings or agricultural produce), paid to the Church (and thus too specific to be a tax in strict technical terms even though appearing as one to the payer) Some principalities taxed windows, doors or cabinets to reduce consumption of imported glass and hardware. Armoires, hutches and wardrobes were invented to evade taxes on doors and cabinets. Today the most complicated taxation-system is the German one. Three quarters of world's taxation-literature refers to the German system. There are 118 laws, 185 forms and 96000 regulations (only one comment to taxation covers 2671 pages). The administration spends 3.7 billion Euros just to collect income tax. ==Who pays== In the United States, the Congressional Budget Office produces a number of reports on the share of all federal taxes paid by taxpayers of various income levels. Their data for 2002 shows the following: [http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=6133&sequence=0 (Table 2)] *The top 1% of taxpayers by income pay 33% of all individual income taxes, and 22.7% of all federal taxes. *The top 5% of taxpayers pay 54.5% of all individual income taxes, and 38.5% of all federal taxes. *The top 10% of taxpayers pay 67.4% of all individual income taxes, and 50% of all federal taxes. *The top quintile pays 82.5% of all individual income taxes, and 65.3% of all federal taxes. Their numbers also show, that when broken down by quintile, the social insurance taxes are regressive on an effective tax ''rate'' basis only for the highest percentile, though that quintile pays the largest share of social insurance taxes (44%). [http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=6133&sequence=0 (Table 1)] ==Historical taxation levels== Quite a few records of the government tax collection in Europe since at least the 17th century are still available today. But the taxation levels are hard to compare to the size and flow of the economy since gross domestic product numbers are not as readily available. The government expenditures and revenue in France during the 17th century went from about 20 million livres in 1600 to about 60 million livres in 1650 to about 150 million livres in 1700 when the government debt had reached 1.6 billion livres. The taxation as a percentage of production of final goods may have reached 15%-20% during the 17th century in places like, France, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. During the war filled years of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century tax rates in Europe increased dramatically as war became more expensive and governments became more centralized and adept at gathering taxes. This increase was greatest in England, Peter Mathias and Patrick O'Brien found that the tax burden increased by 85% over this period. Another study confirmed this number, finding that per capita tax revenues had grown almost six-fold over the eighteenth century, but that steady economic growth had made the real burden on each individual only double over this period before the industrial revolution. Average tax rates were higher in Britain than France the years before the French Revolution, but they were mostly placed on international trade. In France the taxes were lower but the burden was mainly on landowners, individuals, and internal trade and thus created far more resentment. Taxation as a percentage of Gross domestic product is today (2003) 56.1% in Denmark, 54.5% in France, 49.0% in the Euro area, 42.6% in the United Kingdom, 35.7% in the United States, 35.2% in The Republic of Ireland, and among all OECD members an average of 40.7%. ([http://www.oecd.org/topicstatsportal/0,2647,en_2825_495684_1_1_1_1_1,00.html OECD national accounts]) ([http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/0524/074chart2.html Forbes magazine]) ==Morality of taxation== Many say that activities funded by taxes are beneficial to society and that progressive taxation used in most modern countries is a ''net'' benefit to the majority of the population. Others disagree. But as payment of tax is not optional, some people hold that taxation is tantamount to theft. This view is most common among political schools of thought such as libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism, which accuse governments of levying taxes through a system of coercion. However most libertarians, particularly minarchists, recommend taxation as a necessary evil as long as only enough money is taken as is necessary for a government to maximize the protection of liberty. Many maintain that taxation is not theft since government is the party performing the act, and moreover that if there is a democracy in place, then it is society as a whole that decides (through the government) what the level and form of taxation is. The American Revolution's "No taxation without representation" slogan took this view. Others assert that the moral stature of any act, such as slavery or the taking of a person's property without his consent, is not contingent upon its legality or who is performing it or whether a majority approves of it. There are several justifications that are offered for compulsory taxation. Taxation of business is justified with the claim that business necessarily involves use of publicly established and maintained economic infrastructure, and businesses are in effect charged for this use. Compulsory taxation of individuals, such as income tax, is based on similar arguments to those for universality of law, territorial sovereignty, and the social contract. ==See also== *Deposit Interest Retention Tax *Dividend tax *Fiscal neutrality *Laffer curve and the optimal tax rate argument *Revenue On-Line Service *Solidarity tax on wealth in France *Tax evasion *Tax Freedom Day *Tax haven *Tax law *Taxation in Canada *Taxation in the United Kingdom *Taxation in the United States *Taxation in Germany *Taxation in the Republic of Ireland ==External links== *[http://www.about-taxes.com About Taxes] *[http://www.ocraworldwidenewsletter.com/news_front.asp International Tax News] — Daily updated taxation news courtesy of Ocra Worldwide. *[http://www.allegromedia.com/sugi/taxes/ US Income Tax Burden] *[http://www.buzzbusiness.com/directory/accounting/tax/ Tax Directory] — A listing of tax sites. *[http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R402090900 Lively KQED conversation with New York Times tax reporter David Cay Johnston, February 9, 2004] Taxation simple:Tax zh-min-nan:Sòe-kim

Tax

==Quick notes== just quick notes, since i don't have the time or background to write well on it... purpose: fund-raising vs control/social-engineering/behavior-modification types: inheritance; custom/import/duty; reseller's; property related/see also: bonds; notes capital gains tax personal property tax business inventory tax (includes busines equipment) import taxes vs farm subsidies stamp duty revenue stamp revenue paper imputed interest/income tax (on zero coupon bonds) and just for humor, "The Microsoft Tax" ---- ''thanks -- User:WojPob'' =="Distorts economies"?== The phrase 'It distorts economies because it punishes productive people for being productive' in relation to progressive taxation does rather assume that people who are more productive get paid more. This does not neccesarily hold true, even if production is defined as contribution to the creation of wealth. It is certainly not true if production is defined as the creation of value. In addition, the adjectives distort and punish seem rather emotive. It can be argued that people paying higher rate taxes have a duty to contribute to the economy and nation more than others. (such as one-nation toryism) Interested to discuss - User:Ddroar :In classical economics labor is paid its marginal product, the total value added it produces and so in this analytical framework workers that are more productive are indeed paid a higher wage. Taxes decrease the rewards for working and therefore distort the choice between work and leisure; a problem that becomes more important the higher the marginal tax rate. Because the marginal tax rate rises with income in progressive taxation, this distortion is indeed a problem. :The word "distort" is used quite correctly in this context and is standard economic lingo. You may have a case with the word punish. Maybe "discourage" or something similar would be better. I think another problem is that the sentence is meant to describe a tax's effect on economic efficiency, while your counterexample is a question of equity. - Tobias ---- >Other purposes might include redistribution >of income from the rich to the poor, If the :state appropriates :money for the exact opposite purpose (enrichment of the rich at the expense of the poor), is it still tax money? - User:n8chz ''... might include ...'' - think it�s not necessary. ==Flat tax== :"A flat tax would require the least amount of record-keeping." Comment deleted as a ''non-sequitur''. How the tax rate is applied ta a tax base has nothing to do with record-keeping. Record-keeping has more to do with determining the tax base. user:Eclecticology ::For the record the comment was correct. The US tax system as an example is very convoluted and the paperwork, time, and expense to hire accountants to prepare tax returns in not small. It is estimated in the $50 billion range per year I believe. A simpler tax system such as a flat tax would require less record keeping, and reduce that cost. That is not immaterial. This is from somone in the industry and I make a lot of money because the tax system is complicated and I provide advice regarding it. - User:Taxman 15:44, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC) :::A flat tax would not require the least amount of record-keeping. A poll tax would require even less since there is no "tax base" other than the existence of a person. ==Single rate with threshold== I believe that this page should at least mention the point that the combination of a single tax rate applied only on the excess of income/capital above a threshold will be result in a progressive tax in that the average rate of tax will increase with income/capital. An example is the income tax system which has operated in Sweden where a highly progressive tax is delivered by the combination of a high tax threshold and a single (high) tax rate. User:Alan Peakall 13:11 Oct 24, 2002 (UTC) ==Fuel excise== It's erroneous to state that "fuel excise is often used to pay for public transportation, especially roads and bridges and for the protection of the environment" and "alcohol excise is used to discourage alcohol consumption and to pay for the costs of treating illness caused by alcohol abuse". This (the collection of a tax, guaranteeing to spend that money only on a specified, related purpose, is called hypothecation and finance ministers often hate the idea. -- User:80.192.64.123 :False. Taxes are used to curb negative externalities all the time, it is called a social cost#Pigovian taxes ( http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/gls.pl?fcd=dsp&key=Pigouvian+tax ). Inefficiencies of negative externalities resulting from transactions, such as your example of alcoholism from the sale of alcohol, can be taxed to reduce harm. :Taxation is one of the most powerful tools available to improve the public good by curbing harmful transactions or behaviour. The few other tools are regulation and the legal system, each of which has its own problems. :I can draw up an example and have who ever did these wonderful graphics in the article remake with the same fonts and style.--User:ShaunMacPherson 07:53, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) =="Involuntary fee"== Annoying quibble time: Tax is not an "involuntary fee", it's a "compulsory fee". Unless I am confused about the precise meaning of the words,an "involuntary" action is one that ''you have to do and have no choice about'', where tax is (generally speaking) ''something that you have to do and may or may not do willingly''. Should I change it? User:Tannin : Involuntary and compulsory are very similiar words, www.m-w.com has each of them in eachothers' definitions. I myself prefer compulsory since it relays a tone of enforcement. In any event my public finance books use compulsory in their definitions, everyone check their own see what they say :). --User:ShaunMacPherson 07:53, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) :It's actually not a fee at all, since nothing is specifically rendered to the payer. Even if the tax is hypothecated, so that it goes to a specific purpose, it still doesn't connect with the specific payer. The technical term for this is "unrequited payment". And that's actually why it is wrong to describe a tithe as a tax - it is merely like a tax, but it is too specific to be precisely a tax. (So I'll alter that reference.) Likewise obligations in kind are not - technically - taxes, although they have very similar effects; I'll let those references stand while I think how best to handle the distinction. PML. ==Inheritance taxes== "Inheritance taxes are extremely unpopular and many countries such as Canada and the United States have gotten rid of theirs or are in the process of doing so." The first half of this is definitely not true. Personally I hate inheritance taxes too, but it's incorrect to assign that view to a majority of the residents of the US and Canada, especially with no time limitation. Many people find great satisfaction in knowing that the estate tax will punish 'the rich' on the assumption that the rich must have aquired their assets in some illicit or immoral manner. Envy has always been popular. Others argue in good faith that the estate tax is valuable in a social sense because it prevents families from becoming too powerful. And some argue that the estate tax saves the children of the wealthy from lives of unhappy idleness. Whatever the objective merits of those arguments, it is an objective fact that many people subjectively approve of inheritance taxes, regardless of whether they are objectively correct in doing so. The quote's second half is also suspect. I don't know about Canada's inheritance tax, but the situation on the US Estate Tax is quite unclear. Most of the cuts in the federal tax have not really been cuts in federal revenue at all. Until the recent legislation, a portion of the revenue from the federal tax went to the states. The immediate change to the federal tax was to squeeze down on that money. The time has not yet come when the federal government will see serious reductions in its revenue from its estate tax. And many states are already considering state-level inheritance taxes independent of the federal tax to make up for the revenue they lost in the federal law change. So it's much too broad to claim that the US is in the process of getting rid of its estate tax. There are reductions scheduled at the federal level, but those have not yet begun to really take hold. There is a scheduled repeal of the federal tax, but that lasts for only one year under rules that practically guarantee that Congress will revisit the issue. And it's entirely likely that many states will impose their own inheritance taxes, as they did before the federal government invented one. I hate to cut the whole sentence because I don't really know what's going on in Canada. But I don't know how to rewrite it to make it true. On balance it's probably better to cut what I know is false than to leave something that might be true. --- Well, in my opinion inheritance tax is a perfect tax - because you never actually pay it yourself. I suppose I'd better get over to inheritance to discuss the morality of the institution itself but as far as I am concerned if I inherit anything it is a windfall so I don't see why I shouldn't pay tax on it, since I pay tax on income I have earned or gain from dividends or capital gains. What's "envy" got to do with it? If one accepts that taxes are necessary (and of course it is possible to argue they are not) it makes sense for those with more money to pay more. User:Exile --- ==Public finance== The public finance section, which deals largly with taxation, government spending, government revenue etc., could use your help. It shouldn't be that this branch of social science, of which taxation is a subset, is 1/20th the size of its subordinate topics :). I have a public finance book, Public Finanace in Canada 2nd edition Hyman / Strick, that we look to its table of contents to segment the article. Hope to see you there! --User:ShaunMacPherson 08:02, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC) ==Is a tax on land neutral?== "A popular theory is that the most economically neutral tax is a tax on land." I removed this, because: * the idea does not make much sense to me in current economies * I cannot find anybody proposing this theory, let alone any hint as to why it should be "popular". : You've never heard of Georgism? ==Unrequited payment?== The opening paragraph is not very neutral. "unrequited" is loading the topic; Government services are how the Government returns the fee. Referring to political parties rather than politics and economists rather than economics is misdirecting the arena of debate. Also, Tendentious is a $5 word. --User:Alexwcovington 04:25, 2 May 2004 (UTC) Governments themselves use the term "unrequited payment" in relation to tax. A quick search of Google bears this out. Surely it is unrequited because you cannot expect anything specific in return: You certainly cannot sue for it. And if you do not pay it the services are usually still there for you. And some people pay more for the same service. And others pay more and do NOT qualify for the service because of a means test. Unrequited payment seems right to me. User:Psb777 00:59, 4 May 2004 (UTC) In the use of the word today, "unrequited" most certainly does not fit the situation. It may be the case that it is used in law, but Wikipedia is not meant to be written in legalese. If you want to say you can't expect anything specific in return, say that. --User:Alexwcovington 15:14, 4 May 2004 (UTC) That is the meaning of "unrequited". The phrase "unrequited payment" as it was used here is plainly a technical term. In what way does "unrequited" load the topic? Contradicting your first comment (and as you acknowledge in the most recent one) govt services do not necessarily arise from a tax. I think your edit should be undone. User:Psb777 16:37, 4 May 2004 (UTC) "Tendentious" is not the same as "contentious". Replacing one by the other does not simply avoid an uncommon (to some) word: It changes the meaning. I will restore. If dumbing down is our aim then someone can replace "tendentious" with "characterised by biased argument" or similar. ==Immorality== Taxes are immoral in that they are a form of legalized theft, they allow governments to take money from those who would unwillingly give. If asked the average person would not pay taxes, witness the social security maelstorm in the uS. Tithing, taxes its all the same. If everyone refused to pay taxes then all governments would fall. And good for them. --User:Tomtom 18:23, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC) Uhuh. Anarchist by any chance? User:Exile 14:08, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC) == POV in "morality" section == As a libertarian I think I'm in a good position to report that the statement "governments levy taxes through a system of coercion" is POV. "Coercion" itself is a loaded word and statements of this sort are made exclusively by libertarians, anarchists, and those with similar viewpoints. This statement has no purpose either - we already said taxes are not optional, why are we driving the point home with libertarian rhetoric? As for the other reverts, I'm confused. Removing scare quotes such as those around "necessary evil" is almost always a good thing. The word "confiscated" is POV, especially in scare quotes. The slavery/rape example is confusing and pointless. It analogizes rape to taxation. I don't understand the comment about copyediting social contract. We don't remove links to articles simply because they're not copyedited. User:Rhobite 07:08, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC) :Yes, I meant the copyedit was needed here. User:Psb777 07:16, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC) Thinking about it a little more, I think the "coercion" thing can go back in if it's clearly attributed as a libertarian opinion. The rest of my changes should go back in. User:Rhobite 07:12, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC) Rhobite, I could possibly have done what I am doing in a better way. I misunderstood the difference listing as being you ''removing'' the social contract link. But you will see I am already on the way of remaking some of your changes. User:Psb777 07:16, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Payroll/Income/FICA == I removed FICA and put a mention in Taxation in the United States, since this article shouldn't delve into specifics of the U.S. tax system too much. About "payroll tax", that term is not restricted to flat-rate taxes or social insurance taxes. In the U.S., the term "payroll tax" refers to all taxes employers are required to withhold, e.g. income, social security, medicare, state, local. User:Rhobite 07:13, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC) :FICA-type taxes aren't unique to the U.S. system. I've added a general section on "Retirement tax", with reference to FICA and to the similar NIC's in the U.K. The idea of a tax that generates revenue ''and'' helps determine the worker's retirement benefit deserves to be noted. User:JamesMLane 07:22, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::I defer to y'all's judgement on this. But I gotta tell ya, I'd loathe living in a world where a government -- say, for instance, the Federal Government of the United States -- is able to concoct a tax -- say, for instance, the FICA tax -- that defies capitulation in a general article on taxation in an encyclopedia. ::It's progressive; it's regressive; it's capped; it crawls on its belly like a reptile while the employer pays half. Meanwhile, they're savin' for us it while they're spendin' it, like drunk midshipmen on a night on the town in Bancock. ::I'm gonna kick my cat, cry in my beer, howl at the moon, and reload 7.62 x 39 whilst chain-smokin' Luckies 'till the sun comes up. User:Jstanley01 [http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl Mar 8, 07:49 (UTC)] ::: There's no doubt that the U.S. Social Security tax is regressive. I just don't think it should be mentioned too much in a general article on taxation. Feel free to expand in the proper articles: Taxation in the United States (needs some work anyway) and FICA tax. User:Rhobite 08:15, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC) ::::There's no doubt that the U.S. Social Security system resembles a Ponzi scheme; which article BTW, since my edits, is likely in dire need of serious POV work. User:Jstanley01 [http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl Mar. 08, 08:46:51 UTC] ==Morality section== The morality section serves no purpose. A person can decide for himself if taxation is immoral and the school of thought that taxation is morally wrong so small that the mere fact that it exists is not significant enough to include it for its own sake. It would be better to have a section on "Objections to taxation" There are many people who object to taxation without considering it immoral. And there are people who have some objections to taxations but do not oppose taxes because their objections are mitigated by the benefits. Also some people object to certain forms of taxation but not others. :I'll agree and disagree. The general objections to taxation seems like a good plan and should really be done to NPOV this page. I would disagree however that the morality section serves no purpose. There is a substantial minority that do hold that view, and also those that don't care about the morality view, but simply are opposed to all taxes. So that proposed section would cover the whole concept much better I'd think, so the morality issue could be covered under that umbrella. So go ahead and take a stab at it, just don't remove any valid info. - User:Taxman 17:02, Apr 7, 2005 (UTC)

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