Monday, April 20, 2015

The rich must pay higher tax than the poor: services

When it comes taxing,  some people argue that the richer segment of the population should be required to pay much greater taxes when they avail of services that they are able to manage without government assistance.

Do you agree or disagree with this view?

A uniform tax regime is not seen anywhere in the world, but a separate taxing formulae for the rich and poor in terms of services is contentious. I find it, however, right to impose higher tax on the well off who can forego government-given services.
Though it may sound discriminatory, in any populace that is heterogeneous in income counts, not all are in a position to shoulder all taxes for services. For example, medical care is a service sector where various interventions are for the people to pick from; but the poor are not up for such bigger services. Naturally, the rich have to pay greater taxes so that the generated funds could be channeled to the welfare of the poor.

Let me take the case of services like supplying essentials like cooking gas, oil and water or be it insurance or banking instruments, there may be a system in place to make the rich bear greater taxes. This is a must to have democracy in place. For example, expensive travel services and high-end education are availed more by the rich, but the poor too, at times, may have to make use of such options. Obviously, they should be exempted from high taxes.

There is another argument to cement my position. Government as a machinery has huge fiscal burden every year serving people. But the rich, in their own ways, are at a greater advantage and can do without government-aided services. This will be a great breather for any rule.


My position on the topic stands proved, and there may be many other arguments than what are seen here to justify the fact that taxing need not be uniform for all; rather the rich could be made to bear a little more than the poor. The time for such a tax regime is around.    

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