[threatofrain]

The question of justice hinges not on whether the state spends wisely, whether we should have lower taxes, or whether we should have alternative systems of deliberation to better gather citizen feedback. The question is whether it's just to have some people evade taxes. I'm on the side of more tax enforcement (that does not mean I support higher or lower taxes) because I believe it is the rich and powerful who are most adept at evading taxes.

The more those who are good at evading taxes get away with it, the more burden the poor and middle class must shoulder.

[harha]

I think it’s mostly the middle class suffering. Would a billionaire save 300€ a year for a pool? And does the IRS need so many more agents to chase rich people?

Also without an army of tax consultants and lawyers it’s easy to not be aware of everything you need or don’t need to pay, and most likely you’ll end up overpaying. At the same time richer people will have opportunities to legally reduce their tax bill that ordinary people don’t have.

Unlike for instance in Germany, I’m not paying for my boss to have a lower tax rate than I do.

[orwin]

If you own a pool big enough to be taxed in France, you aren't working or middle class. You are at least upper middle class.

[harha]

First result on DDG [0]:

“The French Newspaper Le Parisien calculated that an average pool measured at 322 square feet is taxed 200 Euros per year.”

I think the middle class should be able to afford a 8x4m pool outside of big cities. Especially since other large expenditures like overpriced cars aren’t that big of a deal in France.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/31/google-ai-helps-france-tax-ove...

[peoplefromibiza]

except:

The cost of building a pool in France is widely given as being between €15,000 and €50,000. This is for the pool, and you need to add on the cost of the surrounds, whether this is a paved area or wooden deck.

Then there are maintenance costs, electricity costs, cleaning costs etc.

> taxed 200 Euros per year

that's an estimate based on the lower possible height (50cm and lower) because the images don't give you a sense of how deep the pool is.

The annual tax is proportional to the height.

[harha]

Ok so the middle class can’t afford to build a pool for 15-50k? Talking about bleeding out the middle class.

[orwin]

If you have 15 to 50k to put in a non productive, unsellable asset, you're at least upper middle class, even in the US. Bourgeois see themselves as middle class as much as working class do. Funny.