How come we aren’t getting 5% of Harvard’s tuition and donations? Instead, when a super rich guy spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on his children’s tuition, he gets a tax break, we lose revenue! I think if they can afford 40,000, they can afford 42,000, and if they can’t, then either Harvard will lower its tuition or the kid will choose a cheaper school. Same with hospitals, if they can charge such exhorbitant fees, then people that can afford it must be able to afford 5% more. People that can’t can apply for an exemption, obviously if they are getting state aid the state isn’t going to tax itself.
I think this wouldn’t raise the cost of these things, since they are already getting every drop they can out of people, so they would instead have to lower costs.
I raised a similar point in a debate with someone over a flat tax. People love to argue that a flat tax would be the most “fair”. But flat taxes would likely exempt services and focus only on goods.
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That would mean that if I was wealthy and I purchased services to give me more free time — housekeeping, driver, massages, etc., I would be paying less of a percentage of my income than someone who was poor and spent most of his income on things like food and clothing.
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In order for any flat tax to be even remotely considered “fair” (and I seriously doubt any flat tax can be), ALL transactions would need to be taxed at the flat rate. House purchases. Car rentals. College tuition. Stock purchases. No exemptions and people who have patterns of purchasing intangible things to improve their lives wouldn’t have a built-in advantage — something they currently have under our state sales tax laws.
I would be on board for a flat tax rate. definitely.
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You mean across the board all taxes right?
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no matter what the tax….if the tax rate is 20% than EVERYONE pays 20%…..rich or poor?
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Income Tax, all property tax everything right?
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than count me in.