Re: OT: taxation (was Re: Mountains Rush and Moore)

From: Rand Simberg (newsgroups_at_transterrestrial.com)
Date: 08/21/04 

Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 15:30:59 GMT

Alan Anderson wrote:

>>>I'm in favor of tossing out income taxes entirely, myself. I believe that
>>>the most appropriate basis for taxation is wealth, not cash flow. Don't
>>>tax me based on what I earn or spend. Tax me based on what I *own*.
>>
>>The problem with that is that one often has to sell off assets (like a
>>family business) in order to pay the taxes. Better to tax based on what
>>one actually spends.
>
>
> That's only a problem if your assets aren't producing enough income.

If I have a business worth a billion dollars, and I'm getting ten
percent profits out of it (in terms of return on assets), but my "asset
tax" is twenty percent, what do I do?

If my largest asset is my home (the case for very many people), are you
proposing that I should have to take in renters in order to pay my
property tax?

Sorry, but it's a very bad idea. Not all assets produce cash with which
to pay a wealth tax. It's not fair to make someone sell their family
heirlooms in order to pay an annual tax for the privilege of owning them.

I'm all in favor of getting rid of income tax, but this would be much worse.

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