What would happen if nobody paid tax?
we would have no roads, no hospitals, no schools, no social welfare.The rich would be richer and the poor would be broke and not broke like many people are at the moment but completely penniless.
What are the functions of tax?
- To raise money for Government Expenditure
- To redistribute wealth
- To achieve desirable social objectives
- To provide merit goods
- To provide public goods
Taxation can also be used as an automatic stabilizer.
So we all agree that we need to Tax.... But how best to tax?
Adam Smith set down four canons of taxation in The Wealth of Nations. These canons or laws are still hugely relevant to tax today. He said that all taxes should be
- Equitable (Taxes should be fair, and tax the people who can afford it)
- Economical (Raise more money than it costs to collect)
- Convenient (It should be easy for the taxpayer to pay the tax)
- Certainty (People should be aware of their tax liability in advance)
These canons lay the foundations of a good tax system and when applied with some new canons can best describe how most countries try to implement their tax systems.
A good tax system should not act as a disincentive to work, invest or save. If taxes on low income earners are high and people have access to relatively high social welfare payments, it may not be worth their while to bother working which can cause a major issue for the Government.
***Exam Tip***
I believe that you can answer any question on evaluating a tax by applying Adam Smiths four canons along with the disincentive canon.
Think
Is the tax fair? Can the people being asked to pay it, afford it?
Are the Government making a profit on collecting the tax?
Is it easy or handy to pay?
Does the tax payer know how much they are expected (liable) to pay?
and could the tax act make people not carry out the activity and therefore reduce productivity in the economy?
"What would happen if nobody paid tax?
ReplyDeleteWe would have no roads, no hospitals, no schools, no social welfare.The rich would be richer and the poor would be broke and not broke like many people are at the moment but completely penniless."
Isn't it true that we would have privately run hospitals that would be paid for by private insurance schemes and private schools most likely operating at more efficient levels - satisfying consumer demand and not state ordered demand and paid for by the reduction in tax families would see without having to fund schools via the state.
Isn't it also true that in countries throughout history where there has been little or no tax - you saw a proliferation of charitable schemes and many of the lower classes improve their lot through increased opportunity.
Hi Econ Student,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, You make a couple of very valid points, Maybe my post should have read Life as we know it would be very different with schools, hospital treatment only for the wealthiest portion of society. Access to school for the vast majority would be removed. In Ireland at the moment almost two thirds of the 2.2 million "income earners" pay less than 10% tax. Also Schools even the most exclusive and expensive private schools inIreland are currently heavily subsidised by the state and this removal would push the cost of running the school completely on to parents increasing the cost. It currently costs the Govt €8,000 per pupil in a state run secondary school. It also costs the state approx €4,500 per pupil in private schools, so Yes there could be the potential for private schools, but I would imagine they would start at a cost of a minimum of about €7,000 per pupil per year for a school with class sizes of approx 25 (given the fact that I would assume a private organisation could be more efficient than the State.) €7,000 is more than the bottom 85% of tax payers pay in total income tax, so they would need to transfer all of their income tax they would save and more just to pay for one child to go to school for one year.
Again private hospitals would cater only for those who could afford them which would again be a very small minority, approximately 1/2 of the country currently have private health insurance. However accident and emergency is paid for by the state. People with long term illnesses get access to hospitals and medication through the state which would not be feasible through private healthcare, as health insurers will only insure people who they are likely to make a profit on. Also children's healthcare in Ireland is almost exclusively paid for the State. So again Yes without taxes we would have some form of healthcare but access would be greatly reduced.
In relation to charitable giving, the social welfare bill for 2012 was in excess of €21 billion, so to assume many of the "lower classes would improve their lot" as you have to take into account access to social and affordable housing and all of the other transfer currently afforded to the less well off in Ireland. I would be sure that without taxes Ireland would have poverty similar to that of the least developed nations in the world. Yes charity would save some, but the need for this would again fall on the high earners in the form of voluntary donations which is akin to a social or moral tax paid for by conscience.