It seems to me that sales tax is the fairest tax there is. In each transaction between consenting parties, all parties profit. A sales tax on such transaction will tax these parties. In such system there are no loopholes or tax exemptions. Its universal, and its fair. Yet I never heard someone suppo…

are you suggesting that this system is fair because consumers choose to gt taxed by buying items? “The incidence of a general sales tax is exactly the same as the incidence of of a proportional income tax.” - Thomas McCaleb

There is a pretty significant movement for something called the “Fair Tax” which is supposed to replace all federal taxes with a national sales tax on retail purchases. But like all taxes, it’s still theft, and it’s still economically destructive. You say that “In each transaction between consentin…

Employment should also be treated as a sale. You sell your labor for money. So it would be taxed by my version of the sales tax. It is correct that it is easier to avoid than income tax, but it is universal. Its impossible to find loopholes. In income tax its very easy to find a loophole. For exampl…

There is the proposal for a Universal Exchange Tax , levying a 0.1% tax on all transactions.

You didn’t prove, or at least explain, why it is fair. You have never heard of the Fair Tax ? That’s ironic on so many levels.

I did hear of the FairTax, but the UET (thanks Michael) is a lot better. Unlike FairTax which is too open to interpretation and manipulation, since “consumer” products cannot be easily defined, UET is more objective, more universal, leaves no loopholes, and it taxes profits which makes more sense.

Why does taxing profits make more sense?

Because as a society it is more morally acceptable to require more taxes from wealthier people. But how can you say who is wealthy and who is not? Consumption is not the best tool, because you can be wealthy and still not consume. However when all of the profit you have made until now is taxed, it m…

Would gifts be taxed too? If not, then I just found a loophole in your scheme. I could sell a good at cost, thus, occuring no profit. Then the customer would simply gift me what would otherwise have been the profit. If gifts are taxed, then how is the profit calculated?

Sales tax

Economics Economics Questions

EmperorNero February 16, 2011, 2:55pm 4

You answered your own question. Because with sales taxes the super rich would have to pay taxes too. See this post. The main purpose of taxes is to oppress the middle class so that the currently wealthy can stay on top. Sales taxes don’t serve that purpose.

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Sales tax

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