Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
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Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Tax question. How are government 'needs' paid for if there aren't taxes? Things such as law enforcement salaries, road upkeep etc. I know they didn't used to have taxes. How did that all work out?
People who say there will be no taxes, or all taxes are evil are just stupid.
Commerce is always taxable. Income tax, wealth tax, inheritance tax and every other tax that infringes on a person's property rights are evil. Infact, in most Western countries, income tax pretty much goes to servicing the national debt (which is a fraud). Also, IRS did not get stated until the Fed came along.
The correct way to do is to tax commerce - ideally only imports and exports, but realistically you also want to tax every sale. This is why countries like India have finally implemented GST. All in prep for the new system.
Imagine the worst case - if you currently have 50% income tax, abolish the income tax entirely, and replace it with lets say 50% sales tax (I am not saying we should, but I am just showing the worst case is stil infinitely better).
So if I earn 50K a year, currently I pay 25K in taxes. In then ew system, I can put it all in my bank, let it earn interest, and lets say when I spend $100, instead I have to spend $200. Unless you are the type that spends every dollar as soon as you earn it, even in this worst case scenario you are much much better off. Infact this will encourage people to spend, and their investments will grow tax free - which is the advantage Elites currently have over us.
Realistically, each State should decide what their sales tax should be, and it depends on how much that State wants to spend in budgets. Conservative states will not need too much money other than infrastucture, security etc. Liberal states, can impose extreme taxes so they can go fight whatever it is they want to fight, but every person will feel the heat of it. Its not just abstract number in a budget.
They didn’t have income taxes in the 1800s except for during the Civil War, but they had other types of taxes such as tariffs.
I figure road upkeep should be paid for proportionately by the people who use the roads. Multiply your mileage during the billing period by the rate for your class of vehicle, and pay for it along with your registration and license plates. Maybe add a toll transponder for high speed overhead toll readers at specialty roads such as tunnels and bridges.
Any government service that can be itemized and/ or individually quantified should be, and paid for in proportion as fees. Services that can’t be individually quantified, such as the deterrent effect of law enforcement presence, can be paid for with taxes. What style of taxation is still up for debate, but any style would result in lower overall taxes if we shift many services to a fair fee system.
I've been wondering about this also. If my memory is correct out west law enforcement was started by Pinkerton's and I think it was a private company but someone had to hire them. Maybe private citizens. Maybe before taxes private citizens paid people or they volunteered. Now my interest is peaking to do some research.