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Re:Filing taxes: It shouldn't be so hard by logn on Wednesday April 03, 2013 @04:54PM (#5488996)
To replace income tax, sales tax would have to be 18%. If you exclude housing, medical, and food you'd need a 30% rate.

Even if you give credits to the poor (which means we still track all income) how would you ever take a 'fair' amount of tax from the rich? The current tax on someone making $400K from a job is ~37% with federal/state/local. So you're reducing their tax burden more than half (if they spend 100% of what they make). In fact, they spend much less than they save, so if they buy $50K of stuff a year, their taxes are nearly eliminated ($8K in taxes versus $400K income). You can't provide the lower income people enough relief without adding to the debt (or raising the sales tax to something absurd, in which case low income people would need weekly credits or something).

This idea is insane.

Re:Filing taxes: It shouldn't be so hard by white_devil on Wednesday April 03, 2013 @05:12PM (#5489112)
> To replace income tax, sales tax would have to be 18%.

Finland has a VAT of 24%. We also get taxed for income, and there are lots of other hefty taxes too. Strangely enough, this doesn't seem to be enough for our little country to live within its means though. Go figure.

> Even if you give credits to the poor (which means we still track all income) how would you ever take a 'fair' amount of tax from the rich?

What's a "fair tax" on "the rich"? Do you deserve to get raped harder just because you've made a few hundred thousand dollars for yourself?

Re:Filing taxes: It shouldn't be so hard by logn on Wednesday April 03, 2013 @05:15PM (#5489148)
>What's a "fair tax" on "the rich"? Do you deserve to get raped harder just because you've made a few hundred thousand dollars for yourself?

Yes.

Re:Filing taxes: It shouldn't be so hard by EiZei on Thursday April 04, 2013 @01:56AM (#5491211)
Having to pay more taxes because you can afford it is the same thing as getting sexually assaulted. This is a very reasonable comparison.
Re:Filing taxes: It shouldn't be so hard by white_devil on Friday April 05, 2013 @04:10PM (#5500752)
In case it wasn't obvious, the word "rape" was used metaphorically. Taxes represent forcefully taking your money away from you. "Rape" seems fitting.

Oh, and it's not about "affording" anything. If it were, it would be a voluntary transaction, much like buying a Retina MacBook Pro if you can afford one.