"Wdtabor" wrote in message
...
In article , "Peter
Gottlieb"
writes:


The general observation that consumers pay all the taxes paid by their
suppliers is of course completely correct. It is somewhat amazing to
consider the true amount of tax that we all pay when everything is
accounted
for.


More than merely amazing. The Americans for Tax Reform traced the taxes
imbedded in the cost of various goods. One was a Ford Taurus automobile,
priced
at $23,000. They found the car could have been sold, at the same profit,
for
$12,700 with the imbedded taxes removed. The buyer of that car, who might
be
under the illusion all taxation has been successfully pushed off on "the
rich"
pays and astounding $10,700 plus interest when he purchases that car.

Surprise!

Of course the big con with taxation and especially indirect taxation is that
it affects the middle classes the worst. The poor have no money so they
cannot spend much. However when they do spend they tend to go for branded
products because of the quality.
I was in India and given a choice of spending a days pay on a quality
branded soap or and hours pay on a local variation it was the quality
version that won out - why because poor people really want value for money
and in this case, the branded soap bar lasted 20 times longer that the cheap
bar.

The middle classes are hit the hardest as for them they are right in the
middle of the income bracket so they have a high marginal and overall tax
burden. As consumers, they also get hammered and with only a little
discretion over what to buy etc they have little choice about the taxes they
pay.

The best off are and always have been are the rich and the tax system is
geared to protect them. When you have more money than you know what to do
with it other than engage in conspicuous consumption then buying anything
not necessary a normal life become cheap. The $1m boat brings with it a
sales tax and a property tax. So what it is still cheap.
The marginal rate of income tax for these people and the overall tax burden
set against their income and wealth is also low. It may seem like a lot of
$s but is still proportionately smaller than the middle classes.

Fairer taxes to me means people paying their fair share. You cannot be more
than fair to one section of society without being less than fair to the
others.

Shift the sales taxes away from the things people need to have to live and
put tax on the things that are not essentials to live.