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1、THEEQUITYISSUESABOUTTAXATIONTheprimaryrevenuesourceforgovernmentistaxes・Taxesarethepricewepayforasocietywhichusedtofundtheactivitiesofgovernment.Somecitizensarecomplainedthatthetaxesaretoohighrelativeinreturn.Taxesarethevitalsourceofrevenue・Arethetax
2、esreallyhigh?Whichconfusedtheeconomistsarefiguringouthowtodesignarevenuesystemthatisbothefficientandequitable・AdamSmitharguedthatequityshouldbemoreimportantwhendesigningandreformingtaxsystems.Themeanoftaxesaremakethegapbetweentherichandthepoorsmaller
3、.Buttheconsequenceisonthecontrary.Ittakesamuchhigherpercentageofincomefromthepoorandtherich.Effortstoredistributetheburden,whetherintheinterestsofgreaterequityorinresponsetolobbyingbyparticularinterests,arethesourceofmuchofthecomplexityinthetaxsystem
4、,especiallytheincometax.Criterion,whichisthecommonusedfortaxfairnessiscalledabilitytopay.Thatistosay,thepeoplewhohavemoreearningsshouldmakealargercontributiontothegovernment'staxes・Buthowdoweknowwhichpeoplehavemoreearnings?Firstly,themeasureisincome,
5、thosewhogetmoreincomeformtheirjobwouldpaymoretothecostofgovernmentandpublicservices.Secondly,themeasureisspendingandthirdly,itisassetsorpropertyowned.Someofthesemeasuresofabilitytopayaremoreaccessibletothetaxcollectorthanothers.Spendingistheeasiestto
6、oltomeasurebecauseitinvolvestransactionsinthemarketplacethatcanbetappedatthepointofsale.Asforincome,itisnotsoeasyasspending・Thepartofincome—wageandsalaryiseasytotrackthroughpayrollrecords,butotherpartsofincome一interest,profitsandself-employmentearnin
7、gsaremuchhardertouncove匸Assetsarethemostchallengingtaxbaseofall.Thepropertypeopleownedarenoteasytotrackandjustfocusoncertainkindofproperty,mostcommonlyasrealestateandautomobiles.Asecondprincipleoftaxationisthebenefitprinciple.Differentfromabilitytopa
8、y,thisonelinksthetaxobligationtothevalueoftheservicesreceivedinexchange.Thestate'ssocial,legal,andeconomicframeworkmakesitpossibletoearnandkeepone'sincome,andthevalueofthoseservicescanbeassumedtobeproportionaltothatincome.Thesameargumenthasbeenmadefo