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627 sats \ 12 replies \ @davidw 27 Dec 2023 \ on: The Evil of the Residential Property Tax libertarian
Similar dynamic with income taxes too. No need to necessarily increase the rates, just move people up the ladder so they fall into a higher bracket.
In a backwards sort of way, maybe this is what is meant when saying “you will own nothing and be happy”. (Since paying fewer taxes)
I knew about "bracket creep" (great term), because Rothbard called Reagan out for it. If I had thought about it, I would have realized that monthly house payments aren't immune from inflation. There are just too many ways that inflation screws us to keep them all in mind.
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I think the brackets should be reversed the more your produce the less you pay the more you rent seek the more you should pay. Doctors shouldn’t be taxed at 50% for being productive and saving the lives of people while money managers work the system and only pay 15% for just allocating other peoples’ money.
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What if, and hear me out here, we just lowered them all to 15%?
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Remember that pre-1900 rates of 2 - 4% were common. In WW2 in 1944, the top bracket was 94%. War is ridonculously expensive. Many caveats, but if 0% is not an option we should all want to see 1.5% rather than 15%.
15% still incentivises the use of accountants, inefficient reporting & corporate structures to shield themselves from paying. Sounds utopian, but the world would likely be a lot more peaceful and productive if it were single or decimal digits. People & companies would just pay and get on with building cool stuff.
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My preferred number is 0. I was trying to point out that we don't have to bicker over who should pay more. We could unite under everyone paying less.
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Close the loopholes a 15% flat tax makes sense.
But I think the tax should be a consumption tax on goods and services. Yeah it will suck for producers and consumers but if you grow your own food and make your own products then you would never pay tax. But getting rid of income tax all together will instantly boost productivity and not punish high earners for producing.
People living in western nations if you don’t want to pay taxes you can leave. Denounce your citizenship leave the country set up shop somewhere and make it happen. You have the option to leave and be a free human on this planet but most would die in a week without modern amenities. Even those Alaskan bush people go to town to get goods services and Mates so they can breed.
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Fyi, those "Alaskan bush people" are fake and many Alaskans pay no taxes without going to such lengths.
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Have you heard Scott Horton's thought experiment about how we would react if the USSR had implemented this exact tax system?
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I couldn't find where I had heard it.
Basically, imagine a world where the United States had been conquered by the Soviet Union and there had never been a US income tax. The conquering Soviets wanted to punish the capitalist Americans so they implemented a series of fines for people who made profits. Naturally, they would fine greater earnings more than lesser and they'd punish speculation especially hard.
I forget all the details, but the point was that the current tax system is consistent with a complex communist punishment.
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