deuces wild Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 ............what are your thoughts?Flat taxes, once a fantasy of free-market ideologues, are sweeping across the European Union and could be introduced in more than 10 of the bloc's 25 member states.The European commissioner for taxation, Laszlo Kovacs, described flat taxes, - one rate for all income and corporate taxation - as "absolutely legitimate" and said Western European nations may be tempted to adopt them. His comments will fuel debate that low-tax, low-cost economies of the East are undercutting Europe's industrial heartland.In place in Slovakia and the three Baltic states, which joined the EU last year, flat taxes are credited with helping them grow fast and creating thousands of jobs. French politicians have led complaints about "social dumping" and the risk to their employment and social standards. Others argue that such a regressive system, under which a millionaire and a road-sweeper pay the same rate, can never be fair.http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=634028I would love to see a flat tax in the form of consumption tax in the US.....the more you buy, the more you pay in taxes....exempt food and medical supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 I'd rather pay for what I use. Not what I could have used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 I'd rather pay for what I use. Not what I could have used.Me too. Thus the consumtion tax idea.But the present tax in the UK (as in the US) is based on your income, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 I'm in Canada, and yes it is based on income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 I like the idea of a flat tax, it would be much simpler and you could do away with all the accountants :D Unfortunately I don't think it would work in the UK at the moment, I think the state/government would need to be shrunk a bit first. :ninja: p.s. No offence intended, but if you had a consumption tax and didn't exempt food, perhaps you would reduce obesity? :shutup: :tomato: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Canadian Bacon as a title.......I missed that. Brain fart...sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Just for a moment I thought it said "flat taxis" and my heart jumped for joy.But on a serious reflection I can not see our bunch of liars and carpet-bagging ne'r-do-wells ever settling for anything less than the abilty to bleed the population dry almost to the point of extinction. Our taxation is an olde tradyshune started by the local kings in the far distant past. They did it with a certain gentleness and only really out of necessity to keep themselves and their families. As time has gone on and the kings became Kings it was carried on taxing rather more fiercely because they were building their empires and had knights to bribe and foot sodiers to pay. As the Aristocratic High Born were gradually replaced with the Non-aristocratic Low Born, and ultimatly the Very Low Born and Low Brow it has become not just fierce but vicious and exorbitant, because they have to bribe everyone, with their own money, in order to retain power, in order to gather more money, to pay for soldiers to fight other peoples wars, so that they can get support, from those whose wars they are fighting, to remain in power to get sufficient tax money to continue bribing the people so that they .........The one thing for certain is that if ever a politician sees, or even knows, of a small collection of money, he will find ways of grabbing as much of it as he can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 If I remember correctly, taxes (in Canada) were implemented during the war. They were supposed to help out with war relief, and would be abolished at most 1 year after the war. 40 years later............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 There is no such thing as a "temporary" tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 There is no such thing as a "temporary" tax.Not after they found out how much money they could make off us.... :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Your tax rate in Canada is through the roof. I would guess socialized medical care plays a large part in that.I read of waiting lists for elective surgery going close to a one year wait. I read of some folks coming into the US from Canada for their medical care.Is it worth it? :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 Your tax rate in Canada is through the roof. I would guess socialized medical care plays a large part in that.I read of waiting lists for elective surgery going close to a one year wait. I read of some folks coming into the US from Canada for their medical care.Is it worth it? :huh:Well.. ya see, that's a totally different story. On one hand, if I was to ever get in a brutal accident, and needed 24/7 care and constant medication, in the US it would cost me $100,000 of dollars.. but in Canada, It would cost next to nothing.On the other hand, I pay 7% GST and 8% PST (15%) for goods and services which is ridiculous. And then there is the people who abuse the system.. go on welfare, and get free medication and then turn around and sell it on the streets for $10 a pill. Mind you, Canada is not bad for this type of thing, but it does happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted April 29, 2005 Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 If I remember correctly, taxes (in Canada) were implemented during the war. They were supposed to help out with war relief, and would be abolished at most 1 year after the war. 40 years later...............In Britain Tax was introduced as a " temporary measure" to fund the Napoleonic wars200 years later.......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 The whole idea of a flat tax is utter garbage. How on earth can a labourer or a retired person pay the same tax as a millionaire. The whole idea is ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 In Britain Tax was introduced as a " temporary measure" to fund the Napoleonic warsYes, and it was abolished after. But later it was re-introduced :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 The whole idea of a flat tax is utter garbage. How on earth can a labourer or a retired person pay the same tax as a millionaire. The whole idea is ridiculous.They don't pay the same tax andsome, they pay the same basic rate on their income. And who knows at what income the tax kicks in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 The whole idea of a flat tax is utter garbage. How on earth can a labourer or a retired person pay the same tax as a millionaire. The whole idea is ridiculous.They don't pay the same tax andsome, they pay the same basic rate on their income. And who knows at what income the tax kicks in.As I read it, once the tax kicks in then everyone pays the same percentage of their income as tax. This means that the lower earners will get poorer, and the wealthy will get even more wealthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted April 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 As I read it, once the tax kicks in then everyone pays the same percentage of their income as tax. This means that the lower earners will get poorer, and the wealthy will get even more wealthy.Correct. The poor pay less (if any) tax and the rich pay more. What is wrong with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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