Twetch ·
An income tax is very easy for wealthy people to not pay. They just don't pay themselves income, that's why so many big companies CEO and stock holders only earn a $1 salary.
Plus the income tax forces the gov to know about the wealth production of everyone, which is (or should be) a privacy right.
If the government is about increasing the productivity inside a geographical area acting as a border, then the least worst tax is the import tax. Yes it is an indirect tax on many other things, but it preserve privacy the best as the gov already has to control borders for security.
An import tax also encourages localization of production beyond economic calculation, since some other values definitely must be balanced with economic wealth for long term prosperity. This localization allows the country to build more resilience against international crisis and foreign enemies.
Of course the tax rate must remain within healthy bound - and I know some would say the only healthy rate is 0%. There is good reasons to believe that a flat rate, meaning the same rate for any commodity, is best. It would be easy to think that we should have lower rates for basic commodities like food, but the goods that are most imported anyway represent a higher resilience risk, negating that idea. The flat rate is also known for reducing the bureaucracy which in turns ensures minimal gov expenditures.
Investments from citizens into any company in the country should not be taxed at all, and the same should apply to citizens investing into foreign companies, so as to maximize economic growth and wealth creation, but taxing foreigners investing in the country could make sense in the same way as taxing imports. It plays a role in ensuring better resiliency and autonomy, which in times of crisis is often a strong differentiating factor.
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_in_United_States_history:
"Tariffs were the greatest (approaching 95% at times) source of federal revenue until the federal income tax began after 1913. For well over a century the federal government was largely financed by tariffs averaging about 20% on foreign imports."