What's to stop the politicians from placing "special" taxes on expensive items, like a luxury tax? For example, a car that's over $20,000 has a luxury tax of 100%.
What stops them now? The last time they did something that stupid, they practically destroyed the yacht-building industry in this country.
What's to stop the politicians from placing "special" taxes on expensive items, like a luxury tax? For example, a car that's over $20,000 has a luxury tax of 100%.
The same thing that stops them from doing it now. They have the power to do so under the constitution any time they opt to.
Of course they might have learned something from having to repeal such a tax on Yacht's when the jobs of their constituents folded when yacht building and sales in the U.S. failed and revenue dried up, as well as votes keeping the culprits in office.
"Imposts, excises, and, in general, all duties upon articles of consumption, may be compared to a fluid, which will, in time, find its level with the means of paying them. The amount to be contributed by each citizen will in a degree be at his own option, and can be regulated by an attention to his resources. The rich may be extravagant, the poor can be frugal; and private oppression may always be avoided by a judicious selection of objects proper for such impositions. "
"It is a signal advantage of taxes on articles of consumption that they contain in their own nature a security against excess.
They prescribe their own limit, which cannot be exceeded without defeating the end proposed - that is, an extension of the revenue."
When applied to this object, the saying is as just as it is witty that, "in political arithmetic, two and two do not always make four."
If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds.
This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural limitation of the power of imposing them.
Impositions of this kind usually fall under the denomination of indirect
taxes, and must for a long time constitute the chief part of the revenue
raised in this country. . Those of the direct kind, which principally relate to land and buildings, may admit of a rule of apportionment." (Emphasis added).
What's to stop the politicians from placing "special" taxes on expensive items, like a luxury tax? For example, a car that's over $20,000 has a luxury tax of 100%.>>>>>>>>>>>
I certainly don't favor that but are you aware of what South Carolina did many years ago? They mandated that the state sales tax applies only to the first $6000.00 of the purchase price on automobiles, boats, and airplanes etc., basically all the big ticket items. This means that a low-paid individual who rakes and scrapes to make payments on a $6000.00 used car to drive to work pays the same tax as a rich person who buys a $60,000.00 or even higher priced car. I actually saw one legislator on television explaining his vote for this measure as follows, "that is fair to everybody because everybody has to buy a new car sometime". I can never forget that utterance, it must rank up there with the stupidest things ever said by politicians.