Tax
From RationalWiki
A tax is a fee, usually levied by a government, on a privilege. Sometimes the tax is a fixed amount and sometimes it is calculated as a percentage of the privilege. Examples of privileges that are often taxed include earning income, buying cigarettes, buying anything, adding value to raw materials, owning a house or property, and occasionally dying.
Taxes are used by governments to generate revenue and as a tool of economic policy.
A progressive tax is one that is designed to tax the population in proportion to their abililty to pay. Thus, those with higher incomes are taxed at a higher rate than those with lower incomes. A tax on gasoline, which would affect everyone, would not be considered a progressive tax. The same would be true for a uniform sales tax. A tax levied only on luxury goods would be considered progressive.
Taxes can be used as an instrument of social policy to bring about desirable changes. For example, tax breaks can be given to those who invest in solar power, leading to less pollution and decrease in dependance on foreign oil.
- Income taxes are levied on a percentage of income.
- Real Estate taxes are levied on land and homes, and are often used by localities to pay for schools.
- Sales taxes are calculated as a percentage of consumer purchases, often with many categories of item excluded, or sometimes with a "rebate" to offset their regressive nature.
- "Sin" taxes are meted out to sinners, usually at the time of purchase of goods considered sinful, like cigarettes, alcohol, and non-Christian religious paraphernalia.
- Estate taxes are levied on the wealth left behind by the deceased, usually with a relatively huge "deductible" to spare the middle class from them.
- Poll taxes are fees required of citizens in order for them to register to vote.
- "User" taxes are fees charged for services nominally provided by government, in the case where the government can no longer afford to pay for the service.
- Stupidity taxes are a fee charged people who are "on the internet being wrong" too often. The tax often takes the form of fees from service providers to cover the huge volume of traffic ("over 30 million pageviews!") caused by those who drop by to gawk at the stupidity.
- A "Value Added Tax" (VAT) is charged to manufacturers and other processors on the difference between the cost of their raw materials and the resulting product.
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Categories: Society | Economics | Politics | Law
