Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to At first I didn't understand where you were coming from.

I was using the word "taxed" as a metaphor
azstrummer — (archived)

Even though we are taxed on food locally, that wasn't what I meant. We all pay higher prices for food because of our bizarre income tax system today. Every producer of food gets taxed on the income they produce and they must pass along that cost to the customer. Even though it may not show up on the ticket at checkout, the income taxes we pay are making every purchase we make more expensive.

Poor people are taxed on their food because their income is subject to taxation before they get it. Therefore every purchase they make now is "taxed".

My contention was go ahead and tax all purchases without condition (and I have no idea how you deal with Janie's lemonade stand). I believe that because every worker will be bringing home all their salary, the extra they pay on taxes at the checkout counter will be a wash.

Of course I also am a proponent for universal single payer health care so even more of a person's paycheck is available for the essentials such as food.

I really don't want the average a citizen pays to the government to end up any higher. I just want the system absolutely simple to prevent the widespread cheating that goes on today. What's ironic is that the cheating is easier the more money you make.

Art

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