- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Vat do you Vant?

Posted by: Red Deathy ( Socialist Party, UK ) on August 20, 1999 at 10:59:35:

In Reply to: sales tax posted by Gee on August 19, 1999 at 18:04:37:

: A sales tax right? Once a sales tax is launched you can bet it will go up and up. Once the principle that you buy at the exchange value of the good is broken, however slightly, youve lost it and prices are now subject to the whim of govt tax levels. Observe Fuel prices accross Europe and in the UK particularly.

1:Conservative elements like sales taxes because they tzx as you spend, not as you earn (they claim), and encourage saving. Also, by conventional logic they are regressive, since the poor must spend proprtionately more of their income on taxable goods.
2:VAT, GST, etc. does not break the Law of Value- when VAT here goes up, prices continue to be held down by competition- effectively VAT, GST, etc. comes out of the pockets of the Distributers (shops, etc.)
3:VAT rests at 17.5 here, it began at 5%, but went up drastically, but it didn't seem to effect inflation...
4:Pertol, Beer, tobacco, etc. are all subject to a de facto government monopoly, which alows them to raise the price in the form of duty, and that is about all the taxes the working class pay.



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