Comment by chii
4 years ago
> Tax avoidance just moves the tax burden around, it doesn't create value.
only if you believe that taxes paid is automatic value added to society.
> pay as little taxes as possible creates no value
it doesn't create value, it retains value for those who created it.
If you don't believe that government has any value, then there isn't much to discuss with you as your views on the topic are extremely fringe and we likely won't agree on much.
If you do believe that government can create value, then it easily follows that paying / collecting taxes can create value. There is no need to assume that taxes always provide value or that all parts of government create value (since that would also be a extremely fringe view.)
> it doesn't create value, it retains value for those who created it.
Yes, at the cost of higher taxes on others who created value or a reduced revenue for the government.
If you believe the goverent needs less revenue, then lower taxes. The "bullshit jobs" are created when you have a complex set of rules and loopholes that incentives wasting manpower to find ways to dodge paying taxes. We would be better off just having lower tax rates and less effort wasted dodging taxes.
You should think of it this way. The reasons that tax policies are complex are that the government uses tax incentives both as a "carrot" to control people; and also to buy political support from interest groups who benefit.
The tax compliance and tax avoidance jobs should be understood to be part of one of these schemes. Either they're low-level enforcers in the government's heavy-handed tax-based system of control; or else they're co-conspirators in the influence-buying grift.
Those are some of the reasons taxes are complicated, but not all of them. In the US the tax compliance industry has directly lobbied to keep the tax system as complex as possible so they can keep extracting rent for doing bullshit work.
The "influence-buying grift" jobs are usually classed as bullshit anyways, so that source of the complexity doesn't change the assessment.
There are potentially valid policy goals served by various tax incentives, but it is still worth considering if there are different tax incentives or other regulatory approaches that would create fewer bullshit jobs. With the political problems of raising taxes, government often choose to offload the costs of policy goals onto the public via creating bullshit jobs that cost more overall but avoid the need for tax increases.
Avoiding taxes and utilising tax minimisation strategies keeps value with you, but it also distorts your consumption in other ways. EG you are incentivised in the US to purchase more housing (via mortgage interest deduction) than you might want or need.
Mortgage interest deduction is not utilized much anymore since standard deduction was increased in the 2017 tax changes. You have to itemize to get it, and only 11% of tax filers itemized in 2019.
There is a statistics page that shows this on its.gov, but I am on mobile and it is too much work to find it.
Do banks create value?
Governmental spending is a loan (to society) repaid thru taxes.
Call taxes an interest payment if that makes you feel better.
It is almost automatic value added to land values.