Progressive tax

“ Therefore the progressive tax stops the creation of capital; furthermore it hinders its circulation. Whoever, in fact, should want to buy a plant for any enterprise or a piece of land for cultivation would have to consider, under the system of progressive taxation, not the real value of such plant or land, but rather the tax which it would bring upon him; so that, if the real income were four per cent., and, by the effect of the tax or the condition of the buyer, must go down to three, the purchase could not be effected. ”

“ I shall be calling a second social pact -- to bring together all those who oppose the expanded vat law and those who are for it -- to discuss comprehensive and progressive tax reforms -- openly, frankly and, I hope, with civility -- so we can jointly agree on where the resources to pay for community development and nation-building are to come from. ”

“ It is true that it is elaborately insisted that although there be no express constitutional provision prohibiting it, the progressive feature of the tax causes it to transcend the conception of all taxation and to be a mere arbitrary abuse of power which must be treated as wanting in due process. But the proposition disregards the fact that in the very early history of the government a progressive tax was imposed by Congress, and that such authority was exerted in some, if not all, of the various income taxes enacted prior to 1894 to which we have previously adverted. ”

“ The review which we have made exhibits the fact that taxes imposed with reference to the ability of the person upon whom the burden is placed to bear the same have been levied from the foundation of the government. So, also, some authoritative thinkers, and a number of economic writers, contend that a progressive tax is more just and equal than a proportional one. ”

“ As a matter of personal conviction, and without pretending to discuss the details or formulate the system, I feel that we shall ultimately have to consider the adoption of some such scheme as that of a progressive tax on all fortunes, beyond a certain amount, either given in life or devised or bequeathed upon death to any individual-a tax so framed as to put it out of the power of the owner of one of these enormous fortunes to hand on more than a certain amount to any one individual ”

“ But this progression, although less rapid on both sides, would still take the same direction nevertheless, would still be a reversal of justice; and it is for this reason that the so-called progressive tax, capable at most of giving the philanthropist something to babble about, is of no scientific value. It changes nothing in fiscal jurisprudence; as the proverb says, it is always the poor man who carries the pouch, always the rich man who is the object of the solicitude of power. ”

“ If there is a greater proportionate charge already on the larger incomes, nothing more need be done, and we cannot know that there is not. As to the justice of such a progressive tax, there is a common opinion in its favour among economists, at least to the extent of exempting a certain minimum of subsistence from taxation ”

“ The tax law--even though we are generating a lot more revenue for the Federal Government, even though we are well over that mean number of 18.2 percent of gross national product, even though we have had jumps in revenue of 11 percent, 9 percent, 15 percent--we actually have a tax law today that is generating more revenue but is also more progressive. High-income individuals are paying more of the tax burden. Low-income people are getting more money back from the Federal Government. ”

“ As soon as all the capitalist wealth had taken the form of bonds of states, municipalities and co-operatives, it would be possible to raise a progressive income, property and inheritance tax to a height which until then was impossible. It is one of our demands at the present time that such a tax shall be substituted for all others especially for an indirect tax. ”

“ If, for example, the income-tax payer is directly asked whether he will pay one or two shillings in the pound, he could hardly be so neglectful of his wife and children (or for that matter of himself) as to vote for the higher rate. On the other hand, all who are subject only to indirect taxation and find their own burdens lightened by the increased income tax paid by others would combine to compel its progressive increase. ”

“ I think we should reject the Democratic approach under their budget of raising taxes and stay with this tax law that is raising so much new revenue and is so progressive and has such a strong benefit for senior citizens. ”

“ The fact that high-income taxpayers are now paying so much more of the Federal share of income taxes than they did under the Clinton years, and lower income individuals are getting much more back than they did under the Clinton years, makes for a more progressive system. ”

“ To provide that taxation shall fall entirely on income, and not at all on capital, is beyond the power of any system of fiscal arrangements. There is no tax which is not partly paid from what would otherwise have been saved; no tax, the amount of which, if remitted, would be wholly employed in increased expenditure, and no part whatever laid by as an addition to capital. All taxes, therefore, are in some sense partly paid out of capital; and in a poor country it is impossible to impose any tax which will not impede the increase of the national wealth. ”

“ To promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States. ”

“ The increasing rate of taxation upon superfluous wealth, is a sacred principle for which every reformer should contend.
But even this is not fortified against evasion, and we need the most efficient tax of all—the progressively accumulating tax on wealth, which will gather a large rental from all the superfluous millions, compelling the holders to use them profitably. A three per cent. tax on all over ten millions would not only enrich the commonwealth, but stimulate industry in millionnaires. How long will the millionnaires be able to defeat such legislation? ”

“ As the advantages of the new plan are brought more clearly before the notice of legislators, we may expect a revolution in State taxation. So great has been the progress in the past ten years that it would not be astonishing to see at the end of the next decade fully one half of the States levying merely a nominal direct tax, or none at all. ”

“ This brought me to the conclusion that, “when a reduction of taxation is about to take place, it is exceedingly important that great care and judgment should be exercised in the selection of the tax to be reduced, in order that the maximum of relief may be afforded to the public with the minimum of injury to the revenue.” ”

“ We should contend for an income tax not simply for the purpose of raising revenue but for the purpose of framing a revenue system which will distribute the burdens of government between consumption and accumulated wealth, which will enable us to call upon property and wealth not in an unfair and burdensome way but in a just and equitable way to meet their proportionate expenses of the government, for certainly it will be conceded by all that the great expense of government is in the protection of property and of wealth. ”

“ Let the people know it, then, once for all: all the hopes of reduction and equity in taxation, with which they are lulled by turns by the harangues of power and the diatribes of party leaders, are so many mystifications; the tax cannot be reduced, nor can its assessment be more equitable, under the monopoly system. On the contrary, the lower the condition of the citizen becomes, the heavier becomes his tax; that is inevitable, irresistible, in spite of the avowed design of the legislator and the repeated efforts of the treasury. ”

“ Taxation is but the means by which government distributes the burdens of its cost among those who enjoy its benefits. And the distribution of a tax burden by placing it in part on a special class which by reason of the taxing policy of the State has escaped all tax during the taxable period is not a denial of equal protection. ”

“ Taxation would not then fall unduly on the man of moderate means; and while none would be entirely exempt from assessment, all, in proportion to their pecuniary abilities, would contribute toward the support of the State. A modification of the internal-revenue system, by a large reduction in the number of articles now subject to tax, would be followed by results equally advantageous to the citizen and the Government. ”

“ As pointed out in my budget message last year, we must recognize that the present revenue sources are no longer adequate to finance the requirements of an accelerated development program. During the fiscal year 1958 only eight per cent of the national income was diverted to the public sector in the form of taxes. It is obvious that we can raise this percentage by reducing consumption taxes and by increasing direct taxes on income and wealth thereby making an equitable distribution of tax burden on the basis of capacity to pay. ”

“ Now surely, if by partial and unjust measures, for which necessity alone can plead, we have been able to draw from every State, a tax more than equal to the present demand, no State can say, that it cannot afford its proportion of a more equitable tax. ”

“ The exemption of interstate business from the type of State taxation here involved is now made complete.
A business engaging in activities in two or more States should bear its part of the tax burdens of each. If valid, non-discriminatory taxes imposed in these States create 'multiple' burdens, such 'burdens' result from the political subdivisions created by our form of government. They are the price paid for governmental protection and maintenance in all States where the taxpayer does business. ”

“ In other words, the actual tax to be paid does not increase simply as the legacy increases, which would be the rule of equality, but the rate of taxation is also increased as the amount of the legacy passes from one sum to another. ”

“ The entire abolition of a tax is not properly to be called a financial measure, that epithet belonging rather to those which aim at an augmentation of revenue by an increase in the number of contributors to a tax, while lessening the amount paid by each. But the abandonment of the tax in question should rather be regarded as a sacrifice of revenue for the instruction of the people in political knowledge; a price paid to enable and induce the poorer classes to take a well-instructed interest in the affairs of the state and the general condition of the country. ”

“ The Democratic party will continue with all the power confided to it the struggle to reform these laws, in accordance with the pledges of its last platform, endorsed at the ballot-box by the suffrages of the people.
Of all the industrious freemen of our land, the immense majority, including every tiller of the soil, gain no advantage from excessive tax laws, but the price of nearly everything they buy is increased by the favoritism of an unequal system of tax legislation. All unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. ”

“ We need to bring down our tax rate so we can create jobs, wealth, and opportunity right here, in the United States of America, so we can bring our hobs back and bring our businesses back. We want tax reform that puts America First. We want tax reform that makes America great again. ”

“ It is important that government now rationalize incentives to business to keep inefficient enterprises from proliferating. To promote efficiency and productivity in the financial sector, this Congress must now pass the remaining component measures of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program -- both to simplify taxation and to increase revenue generation. ”

“ They cannot know what taxes can be least oppressive to the people. The tax that may be convenient in one state may be oppressive in another. If they vary the objects of taxation in different states, the operation must be unequal and unjust. If Congress should fix the tax on some mischievous objects, what will be the tendency? It is to be presumed that all governments will, some time or other, exercise their powers, or else why should they possess them? Inquire into the badness of this government. What is the extent of the power of laying and collecting direct taxes? ”

“ My Administration is committed to creating a business climate in which minority business enterprises can thrive and expand. The Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code, my Administration's basic plan for tax cuts and tax reform, calls for a steep reduction to the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent. This reform will lift up our entrepreneurs, our businesses, and our families. ”

“ That tax is to be returned by, and collected from, the corporation as his agent and instrument.
A tax is understood to be a charge, a pecuniary burden, for the support of government. Of all burdens imposed upon mankind that of grinding taxation is the most cruel. It is not taxation that government should take from one the profits and gains of another. That is taxation which compels one to pay for the support of the government from his own gains and of his own property. ”

“ If all taxes that political economists regard as direct taxes should be held to fall within those words in the Constitution, Congress would be deprived of the practical power to impose such taxes, and the taxing power would be thus greatly crippled; for no Congress would dare to apportion, for instance, the income tax. ”