I primarily have a different perspective on taxes, which adds to the consensus making in this country.
To me, the goal of taxes is not for everyone to resent their neighbors because the levies are not even. The goal of taxes is not to stuff the state’s coffers, as no amount of taxes will balance its budget and what it does collect only pay interest on the stuff it already built. So there is no roads and schools argument to paying an arbitrary “fair share”. The goal of taxes - and this seems to match reality - is to incentivize certain kinds of transactions. If certain kinds of transactions are done throughout the year, the government leaves the remaining earnings that year alone, if they aren't it acts as the steward for a portion of the remaining.
The primary goal of macroeconomic policy for the last decade has been to convince people to move money into shares of more founders, with the hope that the founders spend heavily on goods and services to make their thing work. Velocity of money is more important for the economy’s growth, than the idea of taxes. This entropy of spending is far greater than individual consumers or the monolithic ideas of a government entity spending. This has also been largely unsuccessful, as people simply dont want to give random founders money. So the governments desperate attempt to further incentivize making it happen anyway via a tax exemption is congruent with the idea.
> The goal of taxes - and this seems to match reality - is to incentivize certain kinds of transactions.
unfortunately the kinds of transactions it incentivizes are available and profitable mostly for the rich.
>The primary goal of macroeconomic policy for the last decade has been to convince people to move money into shares of more founders [....] This has also been largely unsuccessful, as people simply dont want to give random founders money.
Huh? how about qualified investor rule which denies most people the chance to give money to founders? I.e. the same as above - the transactions available only to the rich.
To me, the goal of taxes is not for everyone to resent their neighbors because the levies are not even. The goal of taxes is not to stuff the state’s coffers, as no amount of taxes will balance its budget and what it does collect only pay interest on the stuff it already built. So there is no roads and schools argument to paying an arbitrary “fair share”. The goal of taxes - and this seems to match reality - is to incentivize certain kinds of transactions. If certain kinds of transactions are done throughout the year, the government leaves the remaining earnings that year alone, if they aren't it acts as the steward for a portion of the remaining.
The primary goal of macroeconomic policy for the last decade has been to convince people to move money into shares of more founders, with the hope that the founders spend heavily on goods and services to make their thing work. Velocity of money is more important for the economy’s growth, than the idea of taxes. This entropy of spending is far greater than individual consumers or the monolithic ideas of a government entity spending. This has also been largely unsuccessful, as people simply dont want to give random founders money. So the governments desperate attempt to further incentivize making it happen anyway via a tax exemption is congruent with the idea.