TAXATION

Everyone knows that taxation is necessary in a modern state: Without it, it would not be possible to pay the soldiers and policemen who protect us, nor the workers in govern­ment offices who look after our health, our food, our water, and all the other things that we cannot do for ourselves, nor also the ministers and members of parliament who gov­ern the country for us. By means of taxation we pay for things that we need just as much as we need somewhere to live and something to eat.

But though everyone knows that taxation is necessary, different people have different ideas about how taxation should be arranged. Should each person have to pay a cer­tain amount of money to the government each year? Or should there be a tax on things that people buy and sell? If the first kind of taxation is used, should everyone pay the same tax, whether he is rich or poor? If the second kind of taxation is preferred, should everything be taxed equally?

In most countries, a direct tax on persons, which is called income tax, exists. It is arranged in such a way, that the poorest people pay nothing, and the percentage of tax grows greater as the taxpayer's income grows.

But countries with direct taxation nearly always have indirect taxation, too. Many things imported into the coun­try have to pay taxes or "duties". Of course, it is the men and women who buy these imported things in the shops who really have to pay the duties, in the form of higher prices. In some countries, too, there is a tax on things sold in the shops. If the most necessary things are taxed, a lot of money is collected, but the poor people suffer most. If un­necessary things like jewels and fur coats are taxed, less money is obtained, but the tax is fairer, as the rich pay it.

Probably this last kind of indirect tax, together with a direct tax on incomes which is low for the poor and high for the rich, is the best arrangement.