- A flat tax limits the growth of government. If everyone paid the same rate, even with an exemption at the bottom, taxes could only go so high before the electorate would rebel. A progressive tax, on the other hand, allows government to grow in a way that let's the electorate feel that the "other guy" is paying for it, not them.
- Non-inflation-indexed brackets and exemptions provide a stealth way to raise taxes on more and more people without the unpleasant and unpopular act of Congress voting to raise taxes. Let inflation do the hard work. Again, this allows government to grow larger. Examples include the progressive tax brackets, the Alternative Minimum Tax (until just recently) and even the Obamacare surtax on "Cadillac" insurance plans. What is promised as a way to tax "millionaires and billionaires" to pay their "fair share" ends up hitting the middle class after inflation kicks in.
- It is easy to get the masses to accept growth in government, increased taxes and loss of liberty if it is framed as a "soak the rich" program. For example, the original 1913 income tax, expressed in inflation-adjusted terms, exempted married couples earning under $60,000. They paid nothing. The marginal rate up to $300,000 was 1%. The top rate was 7% and did not apply until income exceeded $7.5 million. So the rates were highly progressive, but also quite small. But what started as a tax on the super-rich has fueled a growth in government such that the middle class now pays a rate much higher than the millionaires did originally.
Read other related questions on Quora:
- Why do Americans oppose the estate tax but promote progressive income taxation?
- What is meant by progressive income taxation?
- What are the benefits of progressive taxation?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2gt3Z9a
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