Tax system is unfair and unwieldy
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
Democrats in the California Legislature say the state budget should be balanced at least in part by increasing income taxes on the rich. They justify this by saying the rich can afford it.
That is the argument for the graduated income tax system, both federal and state, under which poor people are taxed at lower rates than middle class people, and upper middle class people pay a higher rate than middle class, and rich people pay still higher rates.
And, under that system, some people who are poor not only don’t pay any taxes, but actually get payments — sort of reverse taxes — for being poor.
I don’t really mind that system too much, because Mrs. Doud and I are not rich, or even upper middle class, so we pay our share, but not much more than that. To keep from having to pay more than our share, we have had a gentleman who is a lot smarter than we are about those things take care of our taxes for years. So, for us, the system is okay.
But it is not a good system for running a country or state.
First, it isn’t fair. For example, why should poor people, who get a lot of tax benefits in the form of services, not have to pay any taxes? And why should rich people, who already pay a higher rate than the rest of us, get stung for more? That kind of thinking made us revolt against the British. The Brits taxed the colonists just because they could.
Second, the system doesn’t provide the income that government needs. What happens, for example, if the rich suddenly get poorer, as they are likely to do this year as the stock market drops and many investments lose their value?
Third, it encourages governments to overspend in the expectation of getting more money from the rich, loot which may not materialize.
A flat tax would be fairer.
