4 ms·

"ban the behavior rather than the intent" I think this sums it up quite nicely. The intent, which is encouraged by all branches and is culturally engrained (I

"ban the behavior rather than the intent" I think this sums it up quite nicely. The intent, which is encouraged by all branches and is culturally engrained (I will retrieve citations if requested), is "reduce your taxes as low as possible". With the right advisors, corporations can do this very effectively. This should not be a surprise to anyone. They will pay less, much less. After all, that's what you encouraged them to do. If your aim is to collect more taxes, then why encourage those being taxed to seek to reduce their tax liability as low as possible? Forgive me if I am missing the obvious. But this to me has never made sense.

csense 14y ago
> reduce your taxes as low as possible It's not something that's "encouraged" or "culturally ingrained." It's simply a matter of lowering your costs.
- dumb_dumb 14y ago
  If I track down a quote from a famous US Justice from the early 1900's where he says every American is expected to try to lower their taxes, would that cause you to reconsider your view?
  - philwelch 14y ago
    The "expectation" is merely because that's what any rational, self-interested person would do. I can't see how it's logically possible to escape that.
    - dumb_dumb 14y ago
      That is exactly it. And though I do not have the quote in front of me, I can tell you this is how the justice who said it approached every issue. Maybe "encouraged" and "engrained" were not the right words. How about "endorsed"? I think rational self-interest is a concept that might vary in the degree to which it is adopted into people's behavior as you move from country to country. That's only a theory. Certainly, in the US, reducing tax liability, and doing so vigorously, is believed to be the rational thing to do. But if I'm the taxing entity, is it rational for me to endorse the idea of paying less? That would seem to lead to a reduction in the amount I will collect as those being taxed adopt and refine their tax reduction strategies.
      - philwelch 14y ago
        > But if I'm the taxing entity, is it rational for me to endorse the idea of paying less? It's rational for you to accept the fact that people will work to minimize their tax liability and construct policy under that assumption.
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        philwelch 14y ago
        If you think it's an American thing, go look up how IKEA avoids taxes sometime. In exactly what country do most companies voluntarily pay more tax than they're legally required to?
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        dumb_dumb 14y ago
        I don't know but that would be a cool country to live in, don't you think? Rational self-interested people helping each other out. It could be a good thing.

csense 14y ago

> reduce your taxes as low as possible It's not something that's "encouraged" or "culturally ingrained." It's simply a matter of lowering your costs.

dumb_dumb 14y ago
If I track down a quote from a famous US Justice from the early 1900's where he says every American is expected to try to lower their taxes, would that cause you to reconsider your view?
- philwelch 14y ago
  The "expectation" is merely because that's what any rational, self-interested person would do. I can't see how it's logically possible to escape that.
  - dumb_dumb 14y ago
    That is exactly it. And though I do not have the quote in front of me, I can tell you this is how the justice who said it approached every issue. Maybe "encouraged" and "engrained" were not the right words. How about "endorsed"? I think rational self-interest is a concept that might vary in the degree to which it is adopted into people's behavior as you move from country to country. That's only a theory. Certainly, in the US, reducing tax liability, and doing so vigorously, is believed to be the rational thing to do. But if I'm the taxing entity, is it rational for me to endorse the idea of paying less? That would seem to lead to a reduction in the amount I will collect as those being taxed adopt and refine their tax reduction strategies.
    - philwelch 14y ago
      > But if I'm the taxing entity, is it rational for me to endorse the idea of paying less? It's rational for you to accept the fact that people will work to minimize their tax liability and construct policy under that assumption.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        philwelch 14y ago
        If you think it's an American thing, go look up how IKEA avoids taxes sometime. In exactly what country do most companies voluntarily pay more tax than they're legally required to?
        deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
        dumb_dumb 14y ago
        I don't know but that would be a cool country to live in, don't you think? Rational self-interested people helping each other out. It could be a good thing.