Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Taxes

The number one rule every student learns in Econ 101 or Political Science 101 is this:

PEOPLE PAY TAXES.

Corporations don't pay taxes, businesses don't pay taxes, dead people don't pay taxes, nor do Coops.

So the next time there are tax questions on ballots, forget all the arguments pro and con.  If the tax is on inheritance, businesses, non-profits, corporations, etc.;  you can bet that people will pay it.  It will always be passed on through price increases or some other means to the guy at the bottom who is still breathing.  The businesses and corporations will not asorb the cost, it will always be passed on to a person somewhere.

1 comment:

  1. Any cost increase to a business is passed on to the consumer, be it taxes or raw material increases, or labor. The only thing that is advantageous to a consumer is a free market or government subsidies to the price of the product. So yes - taxes incrementally increase the costs of goods and services. But what do I get for my taxes? Roads, clean water, military, police, fire dept, free public education, libraries, public parks, national parks, etc etc etc. I am happy to pay taxes - do I think they could be spent better? Probably. If I cared enough I would run for political office that controls how they are spent. Do I know there I waste and corruption? Yes. But then I look at other countries that have it both better and worse and I am ok with where we are. When the benefits I receive from taxes are far less than what I pay I will probably complain. As it is, the percentage of annual and incremental taxes I pay is very little when I look at the education my children and nephews and nieces receive, when I visit the Giant Redwoods and when the fire department saves the lives of my friends and neighbors.

    I spent a great deal of time being negative about taxes - was a time I would side with the tea party organization - there are a lot of positives I gain from paying taxes - but even at that - price increases are always passed to the consumer from a corporation - just like punative court judgements...

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