An LP tax platform plank should be simple (lower taxes), targeted (toward linking taxes and services) and open-ended (no need to argue over ultimately keeping a few taxes or eliminating them all).

by {userId=473}

Posted April 25, 2006

Issues: Taxation is an inherently coercive activity: It involves the forcible taking of money from citizens for the use of government. When and where government engages in such takings, it should pursue the least coercive and invasive approach available.

Principles: Taxation should, to the greatest degree possible, amount to a voluntary exchange of fee for service. Particular taxes should be linked to the provision particular services and should be paid by those who desire and/or benefit from those services.

Solutions: We oppose taxation of income—taxation of any activity reduces that activity, and an income tax is a tax on labor, initiative and innovation. Taxes should instead be levied—if at all—at the point where government services are delivered, such as:

The sale of goods or services for which buyers or sellers expect access to court adjudication in case of fraud or breach of contract;
The sale of vehicles or fuels which will be used to travel over government-maintained roads; or
The transfer of real property for which government records deeds and enforces boundaries.

A "profit" can be built into such "service fees" to cover the provision of government services which are of general value rather than individual utility.

Benefits: Linking taxation to services provided will empower Americans to choose how much they pay in taxes, and how much government they get in return; reduce the invasive reporting requirements and overbearing bureaucracies associated with income taxes; and, in tandem with laws requiring balanced government budgets, reduce and constrain the size, scope and power of government.

Author's Comments

I've tried to craft a "middle way" here with respect to the "no taxes" versus "some taxes" factions. No taxes which don't already exist are advocated (although new levels and linkages might be implied), and the elimination of the income tax is provided for. No end-state (no taxes versus some taxes) is necessarily implied.

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