Taxes formulated like this tend to be regressive, since people with lower incomes tend to spend a higher proportion of their income than people with higher incomes do.
That is a great point, haven't considered that part of it. This is exactly the reason why I wanted to solicit opinions and critiques. Thank you for raking the time to comment.
I am in the position that I will almost certainly never wield any political power, so starting discussions to help me understand all the dynamics helps me come to terms with the way things are.
I want to think this part over before I really formulate a response. I thought that having both the buyer and seller pay 10% would mediate these kinds of issues and I was ready to respond with that, but in the end it's really the buyer that is paying all the tax since the seller would simply add the tax to the sales price.
In the end, I want to come up with a system (even if it's never implemented) which is fair, balanced and actually helps people. I don't think we have a fair tax system at the moment but if we can come up with a system which is understandable, justified and fair then we can use those ideas as a basis for a future generation to create a good system.
Just to be clear though, I am looking for fair and justifiable mainly, I don't necessarily need the system to create a redistribution of wealth or even to target higher income people.
I am in the position that I will almost certainly never wield any political power, so starting discussions to help me understand all the dynamics helps me come to terms with the way things are.
I want to think this part over before I really formulate a response. I thought that having both the buyer and seller pay 10% would mediate these kinds of issues and I was ready to respond with that, but in the end it's really the buyer that is paying all the tax since the seller would simply add the tax to the sales price.
In the end, I want to come up with a system (even if it's never implemented) which is fair, balanced and actually helps people. I don't think we have a fair tax system at the moment but if we can come up with a system which is understandable, justified and fair then we can use those ideas as a basis for a future generation to create a good system.
Just to be clear though, I am looking for fair and justifiable mainly, I don't necessarily need the system to create a redistribution of wealth or even to target higher income people.