• Home
  • Perspectives
  • Articles
  • Columns
  • Platform
  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
58.5 F
Los Angeles
Friday, January 15, 2021
  • Contact MMN
  • en English
    af Afrikaanssq Albanianam Amharicar Arabichy Armenianaz Azerbaijanieu Basquebe Belarusianbn Bengalibs Bosnianbg Bulgarianca Catalanceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)co Corsicanhr Croatiancs Czechda Danishnl Dutchen Englisheo Esperantoet Estoniantl Filipinofi Finnishfr Frenchfy Frisiangl Galicianka Georgiande Germanel Greekgu Gujaratiht Haitian Creoleha Hausahaw Hawaiianiw Hebrewhi Hindihmn Hmonghu Hungarianis Icelandicig Igboid Indonesianga Irishit Italianja Japanesejw Javanesekn Kannadakk Kazakhkm Khmerko Koreanku Kurdish (Kurmanji)ky Kyrgyzlo Laola Latinlv Latvianlt Lithuanianlb Luxembourgishmk Macedonianmg Malagasyms Malayml Malayalammt Maltesemi Maorimr Marathimn Mongolianmy Myanmar (Burmese)ne Nepalino Norwegianps Pashtofa Persianpl Polishpt Portuguesepa Punjabiro Romanianru Russiansm Samoangd Scottish Gaelicsr Serbianst Sesothosn Shonasd Sindhisi Sinhalask Slovaksl Slovenianso Somalies Spanishsu Sudanesesw Swahilisv Swedishtg Tajikta Tamilte Teluguth Thaitr Turkishuk Ukrainianur Urduuz Uzbekvi Vietnamesecy Welshxh Xhosayi Yiddishyo Yorubazu Zulu
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Media Monitors Network (MMN)
  • Home
  • Perspectives
    • Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Illegal Israeli Settlements

      Antisemitism claims mask a reign of political and cultural terror across…

      The Flower - Pakistan Monument at Night

      Israel in the vanguard of India’s mounting conflict with Pakistan

  • Articles
    • Man studying religious book

      Ishmael and Isaac: An Essay on the Divergent Moral Economies of…

      Mahmoud Abbas

      May Your Home Be Destroyed

      Netanyahu Lighting Hanukah Candles with His Wife and Sons

      Bibi’s Son or: Three Men in a Car

      The Map of Greater Israel

      The Man Who Jumped

      West Bank - Palestine

      Cry, Beloved Country

  • Columns
    • Denouncing Republican Evils Can’t Do Much for the Biden Presidency Without Demanding Progressive Policies

      Denouncing Republican Evils Can’t Do Much for the Biden Presidency Without…

      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      In 2021, the Best Way to Fight Neofascist Republicans Is to…

      Globe - East Middle - Middle East - Saudi Arabia

      Setting the Stage for the Third Decade of the 21st Century

      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      Neera Tanden and Antony Blinken Personify the ‘Moderate’ Rot at the…

      Statue of Liberty - United States of America

      The Hard Work of Healing in the New Year

  • Platform
    • Hanukkah Lights

      Hanukkah is not hypocrisy

      The Washington Post

      “Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But….”

      When they shout: "We strongly condemn…"

      68

      Why Iran won’t attack Israel

      Is One Iraqi’s Self-Hatred Newsworthy?

  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Home Perspectives The Art of Taxation is not to Tax
  • Perspectives

The Art of Taxation is not to Tax

By
Yamin Zakaria
-
September 8, 2011
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Linkedin
ReddIt
Email
Print
Tumblr
Telegram
Mix
VK
Digg
LINE
Viber
Naver

    Tax is almost as old as civilisation itself. The conquering emperors of the past would raise taxes to wage wars. Many historical rebellions, civil wars, and uprisings have been driven by resentment against taxation. In recent history, income tax was introduced by William Pitt the Younger 200 years ago, to fight the Napoleonic wars. Today, tax is associated with providing public service and national ‘defence’, which is a euphemistic term for war.

    There is a constant debate between the right and left of politics about the level of taxation. The former advocates lower taxes, because they argue that tax saps incentives of those who create wealth, and the latter says taxing is about protecting the poor and needy of society, so they advocate higher taxes.

    There are four axioms in this tax debate.

    First, any society consists of people of various capabilities; hence, one will always find some who are the bottom of the social ladder and always in need of help. It’s not just referring to those who are poor by their physical or mental incapacity, some able bodied section of the population will be relatively the poorest in society. In addition, the need to provide certain public services like national defence makes the case for taxation obvious.

    Only the eccentric philosophers and idealists have argued against tax as some form of legal theft, encroaching on individual rights. However, the reality is we live collectively, and certain aspects like national defence, can only achieved collectively through taxation. To put it simply, it’s the pooling of money (tax revenue) in a society to achieve certain objectives which necessitates a collective approach.

    Second, regardless of your political affiliation everyone more or less concurs that tax should be paid in proportion to your income; the rich should pay more than the poor – simple. It should be proportional at the least or even better progressive within reason, whereas regressive fixed tax like VAT (Value Added Tax) is morally reprehensible. The rich should certainly pay their share, but that does not happen often due to the use of tax consultants and lawyers exploiting legal loop holes, which it could be argued were created and left there deliberately.

    The super-rich not paying enough tax made the headlines after the recent comments of the US tycoon, Warren Buffet and Europe’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt. Both said they are not taxed enough; in fact their employees pay more tax as a percentage! This challenges those who say that tax cripples the rich, preventing them from creating wealth, and it will force them to move elsewhere as we have been hearing for decades and through the recent financial crisis caused largely by the bankers.

    Third, the private sector, through taxation, largely funds the public sector and taxing them out of business would reduce tax revenue in the long term. This idea is often used by the right to set taxes that lead to bigger GDP where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; the latter should wait for the wealth to trickle down. The problem is the super-rich also hoard their wealth or invest it outside the country.

    Fourth, tax should aid a better distribution of wealth, which means a larger middle class and a stronger economy – good for everyone. It should not be the few super-rich obese trickling down crumbs to the starving masses, but rather there should be more people consuming a fairer share, so that you have a good section of the population displaying lean and healthy bodies. Yes, there is an obesity epidemic.

    To resolve this debate between the right and the left – is it simply a matter of striking a balance, so that the rich are not put out of business and concurrently the poor along with the public services are protected? Tax is not the most effective tool as it compels people to act in a certain way, it is far better to motivate someone to act from within, you will get far more out of them this way, the carrot is generally better than the stick.

    Therefore, the emphasis should be to motivate the rich to contribute more to society; that does not mean giving more taxes to the government, as one of the arguments is governments often waste money. This is true – in the past I have worked in the public sector, and have seen this with my own eyes. Nor does it mean unfettered charity by the rich. There should be prudent investment that borders on philanthropic decisions, injection of funds into small businesses for example or setting up new ones in deprived areas. The super-rich with the normal-rich can easily set the economy on fire without getting anywhere near bankruptcy.

    The culture or habit of the rich is hoarding. They should be made to realise that if they spent their huge sums of excess money, it would be better for everyone in the long run. If there is a general contraction of the economy, their business will also feel that contraction. The super-rich know this simple fact. However, there is a lack of collective sprit to implement this. I would never take my business overseas to increase my profit margins, it’s not an act of patriotism, but simply that it is in my business interest to see the local economy flourish and I am making my contribution.

    In the short term I could make more money by employing cheap foreign workers, at the expense of making the local labour force redundant, on a collective scale this will hit the local economy hard. When there is a loss of company revenue, the ones at the top should take the cut, as more unemployed labour force means the local demand for the goods will fall, eventually biting everyone harder. It is essential to keep the business engine operating, and this means keeping many of the ordinary workers in employment and shedding the fewer ones from the top prudently.

    Moreover, there has to be a change in philosophy on this issue of ‘incentive’ for the rich. Agreed, the rich needs to have the incentive to make money, but they should be taught to realise how much is ‘enough’. Because, there is a physical limitation for everyone with regards to consumption. For example, if a billionaire chooses to buy thousands of pairs of trousers, and shoes, there isn’t enough time in his life to enjoy those goods. This open license to create an infinite level of wealth as the minimum should be reassessed. It comes from the rotten economic theory or assumption of ‘scarcity’ of resources. The resources are not scarce; there is enough to meet the needs of everyone.

    If the rich accept that ample financial security is achieved well before they have a million in their account, and if they could be motivated to work harder for society with their excess wealth, that would remove this futile nagging debate over the level of taxation.

    Finally, there are those who have grown accustomed to the benefit culture in the UK. I can accept tax for those in need or those in the poverty trap, but there is no way I can accept that I should pay taxes for someone who refuses employment due to some personal inconvenience. It is not infringement of their human rights to be forced to take up employment when available; it is infringing the rights of the hardworking tax payers for those lazy bums.

    • TAGS
    • about
    • accept
    • account
    • achieve
    • achieved
    • advocate
    • advocates
    • after
    • against
    • almost
    • along
    • always
    • approach
    • areas
    • arguments
    • aspects
    • balance
    • bankruptcy
    • because
    • before
    • benefit
    • better
    • between
    • biting
    • borders
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
    Linkedin
    ReddIt
    Email
    Print
    Tumblr
    Telegram
    Mix
    VK
    Digg
    LINE
    Viber
    Naver
      Previous articleA Different Election
      Next articleLies and More Lies
      Yamin Zakaria

      The writer is a Graduate in Chemistry from London University and Technical Director. He contributed this article to Media Monitors Network (MMN) from the United Kingdom.

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Google Search

      MMN @ Google Play Store MMN @ Amazon Appstore

      MMN @ TwitterMMN @ FacebookMMN Feed

      Newsletter

      EDITOR PICKS

      Denouncing Republican Evils Can’t Do Much for the Biden Presidency Without Demanding Progressive Policies

      Denouncing Republican Evils Can’t Do Much for the Biden Presidency Without...

      January 11, 2021
      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      In 2021, the Best Way to Fight Neofascist Republicans Is to...

      January 3, 2021
      Globe - East Middle - Middle East - Saudi Arabia

      Setting the Stage for the Third Decade of the 21st Century

      January 3, 2021

      POPULAR POSTS

      167

      The Origin of Freemasonry: The Crusaders & Templars

      April 23, 2003

      Sharon to Peres: We Control America

      November 20, 2001
      Qibla - Kaaba

      Direction of Al-Qiblah

      February 23, 2003

      POPULAR CATEGORY

      • Perspectives13742
      • News2933
      • World2641
      • Asia2298
      • Columns1324
      • Articles859
      • Health242
      • Africa224
      • America119
      ABOUT US
      Media Monitors Network (MMN) is a non-profit, non-partial and non-political platform for those serious Media Contributors and Observers who crave to know and like to help to prevail the whole truth about current affairs, any disputed issue or any controversial issue by their voluntary contributions with logic, reason and rationality.
      Contact us: [email protected]
      FOLLOW US
      • About MMN
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Contact
      Copyright © 2000 - MMN International Inc. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
      All other brands, logos, and product names are registered
      trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
      ResponsiveVoice-NonCommercial licensed under 95x15
      MORE STORIES
      Saudis pursuing Zionist Regime

      Saudis pursuing Zionist Regime’s plans: Official

      January 15, 2021
      UN steps up support for thousands left homeless after fire at Rohingya refugee camp

      UN steps up support for thousands left homeless after fire at...

      January 15, 2021