Re:California population declines for first time in more tha...
by AdrianB1 on Saturday May 08, 2021 @02:27PM
(#27089570)
No, I am not doing the philosophy of taxation, I am suggesting eliminating taxation as a concept; you pay per service consumed. Even buying a sandwich is regressive, but I haven't seen proposals to make the price of sandwiches progressive.
Re:California population declines for first time in more tha...
by PaulDavisThe1st on Saturday May 08, 2021 @02:39PM
(#27089662)
That's because taxation is connected to the notion of collective decision making. Buying a sandwich is not.
And BTW, there are some cafes/restaurants (not many, but a few) that do offer progressive pricing.
In a progressive tax system, the burden of taxes is related to the marginal utility of money. That is, an extra $1000 for a person who earns $15k a year has enormous utility, whereas an extra $1000 for a person who earns $150k a year is of much less utility (and this trends to zero utility as base-line income rises).
Consequently, when you collect $1000 in taxes from a person who earns $15k, you have a dramatic impact on their life. When you collect $1000 in taxes from a person who earns $500k a year, it has very littl eimpact on their life.
This notion of "progressivity" in taxes has been at the heart of most taxation in most western nations, including the USA, for centuries.
Your suggestion does not follow this, and is thus called "regressive" - people are taxed without attention to the marginal utility of money.