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by edmundsauto 1600 days ago
You’re going to be really upset then to think about the business organizations that receive tax breaks in order to influence politics. Many non-profits exist only for this purpose.

The only reason abortion is a political issue, for example, is because of the outsized influence that tax exempt organizations have.
1 comments
chr1 1600 days ago
Are you implying that existence of these tax-exempt organizations and politicization of issues is a good thing?

I don't see anything positive in tax breaks and tax code complexity in general as it is a method to obfuscate spendings and evade taxes, which creates all kinds of unintended consequences.

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edmundsauto 1595 days ago
No, I am not implying that. Just noting its systemic and may as well be an intended feature of the system. At the very least, it's an intended consequence.

I can see positives in having the flexibility to tax things to discourage them, or to encourage behaviors. That's one of the best tools the government has to influence the public's behavior! (EG cigarette taxes). No assessment of the net-net benefit, merely pointing out the complexity of taxes does enable some good things as well.

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