Arthur Laffer is always good for a laugh. Sensitive to the heavy burden borne by readers of the Wall Street Journal, he bemoans the fact that the rich must employ so many people to find or develop tax loopholes. His remedy is to allow the rich to avoid taxes on capital income altogether with the flat tax.
Laffer, Arthur. 2011. "The 30-Cent Tax Premium: Tax compliance employs more workers than Wal-Mart, UPS, McDonald's, IBM and Citigroup combined." Wall Street Journal (18 April).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116404576262761032853554.html?mod=ITP_opinion_0
I think his point is that much of the money goes to tax compliance and avoidance. As a righty, he would claim this steers the money and decisions away from the maximum application towards productivity in workers. But as a lefty, wouldn't you be happier if the government recovered that money in taxes instead of sending it towards accountants and lawyers working to keep the money out of your hands?
ReplyDeleteBut many of these highly paid tax attorneys and accountants might not have lucrative positions under this proposal. Then again McDonald's is hiring!
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