The fairest way to tax people?

[raf_gti]

Is there a method of taxation that would be seen as fair by everyone?

If we were all to pay 30% would it beneficial to rich & poor alike?

It's a simple question from a simple person so please be gentle

[plasticpig]

My vote goes to the flat rate sales tax. It has a lot of positive points in it's favour.

It is simple and easy to collect.

It does not penalise people for saving or investing money.

It does not punish (eg. drinking & smoking) or reward people (eg. having lots of kids) for certain behaviour.

It is equitable. Wealthier people tend to consume more expensive items and so pay more tax.

Edited by plasticpig on Sunday 11th October 10:25

[gamefreaks]

Since both income tax and benefits are roughly the same, I would start by ditching both.

No income tax. No benefits.

By definition, a 'fair' taxation system is not redistibutive.

[RDE]

What's the difference between a flat rate sales tax and VAT?

[Hugo a Gogo]

plasticpig said:

My vote goes to the flat rate sales tax. It has a lot of positive points in it's favour.

It is simple and easy to collect.

It does not penalise people for saving or investing money.

It does not punish (eg. drinking & smoking) or reward people (eg. having lots of kids) for certain behaviour.

It is equitable. Wealthier people tend to consume more expensive items and so pay more tax.

Edited by plasticpig on Sunday 11th October 10:25

wouldn't everyone just buy everything from overseas?

[plasticpig]

RDE said:

What's the difference between a flat rate sales tax and VAT?

VAT isn't applied to all items sold. The rate would be significantly higher than the current VAT rates. IIRC most studies show it would need to be in the range of 30-35%.

[anonymous-user]

raf_gti said:

If we were all to pay 30% would it beneficial to rich & poor alike?

Of income tax?

Wouldn't the poorer people be paying a bit more in that example?

The majority of the population are probably only paying the basic rate of 20% for any one earning less than £37400.

It's "fairer" if everyone pays the same % of income whatever the % is.

I can't see any Government being elected over proposing that everyone pay 30% income tax.

Edited by el stovey on Sunday 11th October 11:10

[AJS-]

Very little is the first answer that springs to my mind. IMO it doesn't matter too much in economic terms where you choose to tax people so much as how large a proportion of their income they end up handing over.

It's a political matter, and your politics are likely to govern how you define fair.

To a socialist, the fairest way is taxing high incomes, big business and wealthy individuals. Some people would say taxing undesirable behaviours like smoking and using petrol is the best way, others would say that is too intrusive and illiberal. Flat rate income or sales tax is quite popular with libertarians as everyone pays an equal proportion of their income. To my understanding of the word "fair" then the best way would be a simple flat rate charge that is the same for everyone and doesn't need the government to hold lots of information about how much we earn, what our houses are worth and what we spend our money on. Everyone pays a set amount for the basic services we all use and the rest of your money is yours to do as you please with.

[plasticpig]

Hugo a Gogo said:

plasticpig said:

My vote goes to the flat rate sales tax. It has a lot of positive points in it's favour.

It is simple and easy to collect.

It does not penalise people for saving or investing money.

It does not punish (eg. drinking & smoking) or reward people (eg. having lots of kids) for certain behaviour.

It is equitable. Wealthier people tend to consume more expensive items and so pay more tax.

Edited by plasticpig on Sunday 11th October 10:25

wouldn't everyone just buy everything from overseas?

I don't see why they would. It would be quite easy to apply the tax to imported goods as it is a sales tax not a value added tax.

[wombat172a]

plasticpig said:

Hugo a Gogo said:

plasticpig said:

My vote goes to the flat rate sales tax. It has a lot of positive points in it's favour.

It is simple and easy to collect.

It does not penalise people for saving or investing money.

It does not punish (eg. drinking & smoking) or reward people (eg. having lots of kids) for certain behaviour.

It is equitable. Wealthier people tend to consume more expensive items and so pay more tax.

Edited by plasticpig on Sunday 11th October 10:25

wouldn't everyone just buy everything from overseas?

I don't see why they would. It would be quite easy to apply the tax to imported goods as it is a sales tax not a value added tax.

It would be quite beneficial though to do the dover/calais run more often though.

[thinfourth2]

Its not the way that we pay tax that is the problem

Its the amount that is wasted on utter utter st

[king arthur]

I'd like to see National Insurance abolished for a start. It's a con trick - it lets the government get away with claiming we have a low basic income tax rate of 20% in this country when in reality it's 31%, as that's all National Insurance really is: another income tax.

[sa_20v]

Overall, we need a tax/benefit system which not only encourages people to succeed in life, but also nurtures entrepreneurship and investment from abroad. We can't continue the way we are, with so much angst directed towards those who work tirelessly to make something of their lives (and employee others), from those who merely live off others tax contributions. It's quite absurd.

[otolith]

People have different ideas of what constitutes "fair".

Everyone pays the same amount
Everyone pays the same percentage
Everyone pays the same percentage up to a cap
Everyone pays the same percentage after an allowance
Everyone pays an increasing percentage according to wealth
Everyone pays according to how much they earn
Everyone pays according to how much the consume
Everyone pays according to how much they own
Everyone pays according to how much they need

Some people think it unfair that some have more than others. Some people think it unfair that some who work hard are taxed to give the money to some who don't.

The only universal truth is that if you ask people who should pay more tax, they won't nominate themselves - i.e. "The Rich" means "The Richer Than Me".

[OnTheOverrun]

The fairest way to tax is to tax people in relation to the quantity of the services they use that the taxes provide. This invariably means the poor paying more than the rich because they invariably use the services more.

Fairest, but not most popular with the poor I suspect.

[segg250]

I think the best way would be universal. A basic rate of 15-20% for those on less than 20k per year and a secondary rate of no more than 30% for everyone else no matter what their income. Ie 250k a year at 30% or 25k a year at 30%.

Then all thats needed is to stop the government waste of revenue generated.

[Alex]

We need a flat-rate of income tax with a high tax-free allowance. Then we need to abolish all the indirect and social engineering taxes.

[Vixpy1]

First 10K tax free, flat rate 25% after that. Though i'm not sure how the sums would add up

[4nonymous]

I have always thought a fixed tax for every person earning.

Eg 20% for absolutly anyone earning anything.

You genuinely can't get fairer than that.

[Shay HTFC]

4nonymous said:

I have always thought a fixed tax for every person earning.

Eg 20% for absolutly anyone earning anything.

You genuinely can't get fairer than that.

Its the fairest way. But not the vote winning way.

You can tax everyone 20%, or tax lower 80 percentile income households 10% and top 20 percentile 30% for example (or whatever adds up)

The 80% of households will vote in favour of the second option. I myself am not bothered about higher income households paying a larger share of tax. Most of us higher tax band members started life in a much more promising position than those in the lower bracket for example, despite what people on here say. Should the 'fairness' take account of the economic situation you were born in?

Edited by Shay HTFC on Monday 12th October 01:08