[ancient_geezer]

Thomas Hobbes from Leviathan

• It is fairer to tax people on what they extract from the economy, as roughly measured by their consumption, than to tax them on what they produce for the economy, as roughly measured by their income.

[eno_]

If government were, say, only 15% of GDP, nobody would much care HOW they were taxed - VAT, flat tax, etc., would all be pretty much OK, since the overall hit would not be so bad. Plus it would be easier to make the switch from income tax to VAT (much less intrusive) because the stakes would be lower and people would not be so suspicous of a hidden tax increase. Tax reform should not just be about HOW we are taxed, but that, fundamentally we are taxed WAY TOO MUCH.