From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhtsa!alice!npoiv!houxm!hogpc!houti!trc
Newsgroups: net.taxes
Title: Merge tax forms or get rid of them?
Article-I.D.: houti.258
Posted: Thu Apr 21 13:47:15 1983
Received: Wed Apr 27 04:37:20 1983

TO: sdcsvax!sdccsu3!sdcrdcf!pmontgom
Peter:
	I somewhat like your idea - but I wonder if it might be even
better to reverse it?  That is, have individuals pay state taxes, 
and have the federal taxes be a fixed percent of that.  This would
tend to restore the balance of federal and state power that has
suffered so greatly in the recent past.  Also, those people living
in states that need less government support could reduce their federal
tax load by reducing the state tax load.

In fact, if taxes were centralized, I would be afraid that the federal
government would find some way to use that as leverage against the
states.  Perhaps once the state tax structures were dismanteled, the
feds could threaten to make a state go back to collecting its own taxes.
(Certainly the federal government has proven that it is willing to use
any and all means to get its way, including withholding funds that
came in part from people who paid their share in.)

	Of course, I really think that a better solution is to eliminate
personal taxes all together, and reduce total taxes taken in greatly.
Taxes would still be applied, if necessary, to businesses which would then
pass the expense on the the customers.   And there would be import taxes of 
sort, to make up for countries that tax their businesses less than we do.
The result would be a vastly more efficient gathering of taxes, and less
government interference in people's lives.


	Tom Craver
	houti!trc