Principles of Taxation for People Who Have Principles

Abstract:     
All governments need money in order to pay for the cost of operations. There are a number of ways that they can obtain the funds they need. Economies that are emerging from central planning to a market system are in a unique position in this regard - some would say enviable - because they have not built up large, burdensome tax collecting bureaucracies over the years. The tax systems in western democracies, on the other hand, have become ever more complex, inefficient, and difficult to manage. In the USA, for example, tax laws are passed and later amended, then amended again and again. Because laws are easier to pass than repeal, the volume and complexity of the tax law grows with each passing year, to the point, where the system is in danger of collapsing of its own weight. Over time, the tax laws have become more complex and more obscure.

JEL Classifications: H2, K34

Accepted Paper Series