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A comment on TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England. Parent comment

Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by joking on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @05:27AM (#25831924)
there are a pretty way of saying your country have less income / business benefits tax, but then you fund your tv with a dedicated fee, your roads with tolls, your medical system with copays or private insurance... at the expense of having more inefficiencies and costs for the people having to manage those payments.

Those payments are also less regressive, as usually you pay the same regardless your income opposed to the income tax, so the system is less fair for the low class.

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Re:TV detector vans once prowled the streets of England by denton-scratch on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @09:26AM (#25833660)
"Less regresssive"?

LMFTFY. A flat-rate tax is regressive, because poor people pay the same as rich people. A sales tax (such as VAT) is regressive, because poor people buy more stuff as a proportion of their income.

An income tax is progressive, because you pay more if you earn more.

Several people have claimed that the Beeb is some kind of "public good". I don't happen to agree; but if it's true, then clearly it should be paid for out of general taxation.

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