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Taxes: Is it possible...

Taxes: Is it possible... (see post #1)

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radcen

radcen

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Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
 
radcen said:
Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

Tax rates do make a difference. As do deductions, which are simply a way of reducing a tax rate. Does the home mortgage deduction effect how much you can borrow, home values, etc.? If you answer yes, then tax rates do matter.

If your state charges 10.25% sales tax, but the state across the river charges 7.5%, in which state would you buy the new car? The high tax state will offset by cutting the price.
 
radcen said:
Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

...I would say it depends on what is being taxed, and how heavy the burden (which is not the same as "rate") is.
 
I would state that tax breaks for the top one tenth of one percent would increase the disparity. If you give more to the rich, it must come from the 99.99 per cent.
//
 
Waddy said:
Tax rates do make a difference. As do deductions, which are simply a way of reducing a tax rate. Does the home mortgage deduction effect how much you can borrow, home values, etc.? If you answer yes, then tax rates do matter.

If your state charges 10.25% sales tax, but the state across the river charges 7.5%, in which state would you buy the new car? The high tax state will offset by cutting the price.
Click to expand...

Many states charge their sales tax rate when you buy a car out of state and bring it back to register.
 
Who pays the most actual money in taxes? Do they receive a comparable increase in benefits?

Why is it wrong that everyone pay an equal percentage of their income in taxes? It would be more "equitable" if everyone paid, say, 25%. The less wealthy would still pay much less, while the rich man pays more.

It is obvious by the tenor of this thread already that taxes do matter.
 
radcen said:
Many states charge their sales tax rate when you buy a car out of state and bring it back to register.
Click to expand...

Yes, some states do, others don't. My state charges no sales tax on boats, but the neighboring state does. Tax laws do vary considerably.

My state does not even title boats or single axle trailers. Neighboring states do.
 
Waddy said:
Who pays the most actual money in taxes? Do they receive a comparable increase in benefits?

Why is it wrong that everyone pay an equal percentage of their income in taxes? It would be more "equitable" if everyone paid, say, 25%. The less wealthy would still pay much less, while the rich man pays more.

It is obvious by the tenor of this thread already that taxes do matter.
Click to expand...

No. If you truly understood the tenor of the thread, you would know that the question is whether tax rates influence the economy, not equality or who benefits.
 
radcen said:
Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

Tax rates obviously are part of the economy and influence it. But, there is a middle ground. You can't reduce tax rates to zero, which would stimulate the economy in the short term but we would eventually pay the price for collecting zero tax revenues and all of the other effects that would go along with it. On the other hand, if you tax too much, the economy will indeed suffer. I don't favor cutting overall tax rates when we are running the deficits we are running now and the economy is doing fine but I do think corporate tax rates are too high and need to be lowered to help bring businesses back to the US or not have them leave in the first place. I also think it is stupid not to tax 47% of the population. Everyone over the poverty level should be paying some form of federal income taxes, just like the majority of that 47% pay state income taxes.
 
radcen said:
No. If you truly understood the tenor of the thread, you would know that the question is whether tax rates influence the economy, not equality or who benefits.
Click to expand...

You can't separate the two. Taxes are a form of social engineering, and affect everything within a society. Trying to figure out if taxes affect the economy without considering the social engineering that taxes promote is a fool's errand. How taxes are applied is just as important to the economy as the tax rates themselves.
 
Taxes definitely have an effect on the economy. For example, you may have to pay 10% of your income to the government but if you didn't have to pay taxes, what would that 10% have been spent on?
 
This is a consumer-driven economy so the more money the poor and middle class have in their pocket to spend the better sustained economic performance will be.
 
Depends on your definition of "the economy".

Also depends on the type of tax.

Personally I view taxes as a way to encourage/discourage certain behaviors.

For example, people generally don't like the idea of a plutocracy, thus an estate tax exists.
 
I think if you set it up like math problem looking at the limit as taxes moved from zero to 100%,
there would be a level where the rate of taxation would become toxic to the economy.
While I do not know, I suspect some of the European countries may have seen what that toxic level is.
 
longview said:
I think if you set it up like math problem looking at the limit as taxes moved from zero to 100%,
there would be a level where the rate of taxation would become toxic to the economy.
While I do not know, I suspect some of the European countries may have seen what that toxic level is.
Click to expand...

A country can get away with high European style tax rates so long as there is good economic growth and a fairly young population. Once the population ages, and economic growth slows, high tax rates are a huge drag on that economy.
 
radcen said:
Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

Which taxes?

Napoleon said:
This is a consumer-driven economy so the more money the poor and middle class have in their pocket to spend the better sustained economic performance will be.
Click to expand...

Therefore what?
 
radcen said:
Taxes: Is it possible that tax rates have little to no effect whatsoever on the economy, and that it's other factors?

Discuss.
Click to expand...

Taxes have a bearing on the economy, but are certainly not the only factor. If you tax everyone including corporations at a rate of 50%, the economy will shrink. However, if you make the rate 10%, but have 20% inflation, the economy will struggle. Or, if you make the rate 10%, but enact a very heavy burden of regulations, the economy will struggle under this scenario too. If you have reasonable taxes, inflation, regulation, employment, trade deficits, etc., you have a chance to have a strong economy.
 
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