Discussion (5)
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Sales taxes are regressive as hell. They're the biggest burdens on people with the least money resources. Lower-income and poor people spend almost everything they make on food, fuel, transportation. Just because some rich dude makes 1,000 more money than a poor guy, he just gets richer. We need truly progressive income taxes with high marginal, including all income, not just wages. Tax income from capital too.
Agree to a point. Taxing capital gains like income would be a good start.
Sales taxes are regressive. Replacing income tax with a national sales tax would only exacerbate wealth inequalities and lead to a two class America.
They're regressive on their own, yes. There are ways to address that, though (exemptions, rebates, credits). If implemented with such measures, a national sales tax can actually be more progressive, ensuring that the wealthy pay their fair share (if/when they want to enjoy their money -- i.e. spend it -- there's no way to avoid the tax).
A tax only on consumption could certainly simplify the tax system and bring consistency to where/how we get taxed (not when earn or hold, but when we spend), but we'd need other mechanisms to offset for lower income earners (maybe exemptions or rebates to a certain amount).