As I said in my first post, part of the purpose of this blog is to investigate my idea for welfare and taxation reform by exposing my thoughts to criticism and contradiction. But what is my idea? It is that welfare and taxation should be the same for everyone in the country.
If a family of 2 parents and 2 children (for example) require £10,000 a year to have a quality of life that is the lowest that is acceptable in the UK then the State should provide that family with £10,000 a year. It shouldn't matter whether the family earns nothing or earns £100,000 a year. I think this would make the system better. Obviously the State ends up paying out more money but the advantages are that there is no welfare dependence and the system has much lower overhead costs. It also fair in that everyone is treated equally by the State and might help end the politics of division in which the rich are made to oppose the poor and vice versa.
Taxation should be similarly blind to total income. There should be a flat tax on any income that is privately earned (ie not the income from the State). A flat tax is fair and again cheaper to run. It is also far simpler for people to calculate their own tax requirements. It may even encourage richer people from abroad to move here thereby benefiting everyone else.
I know that the idea of a minimum income is not new and nor is the idea of a flat tax rate. I don't know if anyone or any group has proposed both simultaneously and it largely doesn't matter. This is an idea and I want to find out whether it is a good one or not.
What you're advocating - basically, libertarianism but compromised by sufficientarianism - does have some appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I wouldn't tax income. Instead, I would tax air pollution. You can square this with libertarianism as the air belongs to everyone, so it's basically just demanding compensation for a property rights violation.
I would also tax land. When I claim a patch of land, I am restricting your Hohfeldian liberty, as you can no longer do what you wish with that land. Therefore, it seems reasonable that I should pay you some compensation.
Taxing land and pollution is a fairer, more economically sensible and more libertarian way of raising revenue for a universal basic income than is taxing income.