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Tempora
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28 Oct 2015, 11:54 am

A straight tax on products, passed directly onto the consumer effectively acts as Government sponsored price-fixing as 'extra' price increases can be (are usually) hidden during the publicised imposition of tax by the Government. Government edicts to increase the minimum price of goods without taxation are also more transparently a sponsorship of price-fixing between companies, which in normal circumstance is either illegal or unfair and subject to sanction.

for undesirable or unhealthy consumer goods like cigarettes, alcohol or sugar

instead of taxing products at the point-of-sale instead tax company profits, shareholder dividends and director pay and bonuses

according to a proscribed schedule and mathematical formulae the number of units or end-products produced or quantity of substance manufactured affects how much the companies profits are taxed

this brings several advantages over straight taxation

companies can't pretend that any or all price increases are due to a Government tax on the products, thus consumer choice (and discernment) would still be a limiting factor on price increases

discourages companies from over-producing or flooding the market with products, more effectively than when they are 'forced' to increase the price due to either taxation or pricing mandates

any voluntary price increases imposed on the consumer should lead to some of that money making it's way to the tax collector



Sigbold
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28 Oct 2015, 9:59 pm

Tempora wrote:
instead of taxing products at the point-of-sale instead tax company profits, shareholder dividends and director pay and bonuses


Maybe you should also write about which country you are talking, because where I life such things are also taxed. Or at the very least the first three, I am not so sure about the last one but probably is.



looniverse
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29 Oct 2015, 9:35 am

I reject your premise

Taxation is theft



NotThatClever13
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29 Oct 2015, 10:26 am

Sounds like an Australian system where tax is already added to products on their price labels as opposed to North America where it is added at the point of sale.



naturalplastic
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29 Oct 2015, 12:37 pm

An overly complicated solution to a "problem" that doesn't even exist.