So you would get rid of the estate tax and capital gains taxes?
Could you describe or point me to an example of how you would levy an exclusive right of use of knowledge? Would you levy exclusive right of use of artistic work? An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. -- Tony Benn in Sicko
Indeed I would, since the levies I propose would capture the relevant value more certainly and more efficiently, I believe.
marco:
Could you describe or point me to an example of how you would levy an exclusive right of use of knowledge?
The mechanism I would use is a Limited Liability Levy on gross revenues of Corporations collected simply and unavoidably via the clearing system.
After all, an increasingly large part of the value of such Corporations consists of the intellectual capital of knowledge, experience and gumption residing between its employees' ears and the objectified intellectual property it owns.
I would also get rid of Corporation Tax, VAT and tax on dividends. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
is this minimal taxing aspect of your thinking a recent development, or did i miss it when you have presented it earlier? An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. -- Tony Benn in Sicko
I have long been convinced by the Georgist rationale for a Land Value Tax - ie a tax on the privilege of exclusive rights of land use - but I had not extended the logic of taxation of privilege much further until the last few months.
For a while I thought that tax on earned income might be unnecessary and maybe unjustified, but I think that a tax on earned income could be considered as a levy made on the privileges of security, education and good healthcare which a decent Society provides to all.
If a Location Benefit Levy; Non-Renewables Levy and Limited Liability Levy etc were applied, then I doubt whether taxation on earned income need be set too high. It would be interesting - but a major task, I suspect - to run the numbers.
By way of example, in Hong Kong, land taxation raises around 35% of the tax take, and until the current government capped it about 8 years ago, I understand that Denmark's land tax raised about 30%. In the absence of these taxes, then taxation of earned income would have to rise to levels which would probably be unacceptable -in Hong Kong at least. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
Would you levy exclusive right of use of artistic work?
In relation to copyrights owned by individuals (rather than corporations), I think that a levy on gross revenues would be appropriate.
I'm not sure about patents: certainly a levy on revenues received by individuals. I would also wish to encourage the use of patents through a "use it or lose it" provision, perhaps. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
