posted
I'm sixteen and to this date I've never earnt enough in a week to qualify to pay tax. But I hopefully will soon, so just out of curiosity, what is the legal basis for tax, and are there any theoretical (or currently applied) alternatives?
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
There is no legal basis for taxes. Many governments get around this by claiming that every penny you earn actually belongs to them. Thus, when they take it away from you it isn't a tax.
Posts: 413 | Registered: Apr 2003
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You are the property of the government. Anything you earn is theirs. What they let you keep is out of their generousity. They can even take your body and send you off to die if they so choose.
And no, I'm not an adult yet, and never will be. I'm well prepared already for my flight to Neverland the night before I turn 18.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
If you like things like roads and the fire department, they are a necessary evil. They fund the military, allow countries to send aid to disaster areas, and do a great deal of good in the world. They also go to fund things that the people who pay them don't always agree with, and there is a lot of waste in the system in most countries. So almost everyone has one or more things that they wish their taxes wouldn't help pay for.
No one likes them, but most people consider them a necessary evil. *shrug* What more do you want? There cannot be government without taxes, and while I don't always agree with my government I do consider it somewhat better than anarchy. For the moment.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
How about an even tax rate for everyone? Apparently Australia is the most overtaxed country in the world. If I earn $120 (or thereabouts) I pay ~$1 tax, less than 1%. If I earn something like $400 I'm made to pay something like 20%. That's not that much earnings difference for a 19% tax difference. And yes, there are things my taxes go to that I don't like, such as dole bludgers (sp?).... like myself.
Public works aren't really public works if the public doesn't get a full democratic say in where their own money is being put. And it's not like we can just up and leave if we don't like it.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Also remember that the United States does have the lowest tax rate in the free world.
If you are lucky enough to be extremely and insanely rich one day, you might not even have to worry about paying them.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
The problem with a standard tax rate is that it would be felt worse by those making less. $10,000 to someone making $100,000 a year does not hurt as much as $1,000 from someone making only $10,000 a year.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Ahh, but that's why we have poverty lines. Above the poverty line (earnings matching the cost of living, after tax), I believe everyone should contribute the same percentage.
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Then you have to decide where to draw the line, and keep raising it to make up for inflation. A 2% adjustment each year I think would be mandatory.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Okay, now you're going to have to explain inflation to me. I more or less know what it is, but why can't all employers simply pay more as inflation rises?
Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Taxes are a part of "Total Compensation". That is the cost to an employeer for your labor. If the taxes go up, your total compensation rises. Your employeer then needs to decide if "you are worth it." If you are not, then you are out of a job.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Public works aren't really public works if the public doesn't get a full democratic say in where their own money is being put.
Public works are for the good of the public. Should there be a vote for every new road, road widening, change in the bus schedule, replacement of a sewer line, new water treatment plant, etc? That would be an awful lot of voting. The government employs people to know when and where these things are needed and to use public money as effectively as possible. That doesn't happen as often as we would like, but making it fully democratic would be a nightmare.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
If these people were to become not worth keeping, then surely the minimum wage should be done away with so that jobs they are competent for can pay what they're worth, no matter what that is. From there they can be government supported (trained and funded) into better jobs, and pay off their debt later. This whole issue, to me, seems to assert the idea that people under the poverty line aren't worth/capable of getting out, and so need a minimum wage and these differing tax rates (for everyone) in order for the poor to simply survive.Posts: 1138 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I also think minimum wage should require a 2% adjustment. That way you don't have the sudden $1 an hour increase like they just did here in Maryland, that will hurt some small businesses that just employ teens.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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If I earn $120 (or thereabouts) I pay ~$1 tax, less than 1%. If I earn something like $400 I'm made to pay something like 20%. That's not that much earnings difference for a 19% tax difference. And yes, there are things my taxes go to that I don't like, such as dole bludgers (sp?).... like myself. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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I more or less know what it is, but why can't all employers simply pay more as inflation rises?
