French 75% tax rate struck down

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

I think the UK system is fairer...

Are you old enough to remember when the UK tax on £1,000,000 was 95%?

It's no wonder every major artist in Britain moved to the US during the '50s and '60s.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Are you old enough to remember when the UK tax on £1,000,000 was 95%?

It's no wonder every major artist in Britain moved to the US during the '50s and '60s.

If I had a million or more in that era I doubt I'd be living in the UK...more likely own my own island in the Seychelles

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

If I had a million or more in that era I doubt I'd be living in the UK...more likely own my own island in the Seychelles

Call me if you need a motorcycle mechanic

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Call me if you need a motorcycle mechanic

Well I'm still a millionaire but in Vietnamese Dong terms....1 million Dong = £30

[the_tyrant]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Are you old enough to remember when the UK tax on £1,000,000 was 95%?

It's no wonder every major artist in Britain moved to the US during the '50s and '60s.

and that is the issue. Government is fundamentally a service industry. However, unlike most services, the government owns a monopoly, making it hard for you to "take your business elsewhere". You can't not pay, after all, if you refuse to pay your phone bill, the phone company will simply cut your service. Refuse to pay taxes, and the IRS will be coming for you. If I hate the phone company, theoretically I can start my own phone company. If I start my own country, government, they would label me a rebel and send the army in.

you know what, I would actually hope that someday governments would "compete" for your tax dollars. They really need to improve service while reducing price.

if they charge too much for the service, why wouldn't you take your money else where? After all, they are simply "voting with their wallet"

[Sailor Steve]

But that's exactly what those British movie stars and musicians did. They couldn't start their own government, but they could move to a country where the tax rates were more to their liking. This ended up forcing the British government to change their tax policy.

In principle, though, I agree with you. The problem is that governments have no way of generating revenue, so they have to take it. It's been an accepted problem and solution since mankind formed societies, and there doesn't seem to be a real solution for it.

This ended up forcing the British government to change their tax policy.

Yet today even with the changed policy they still don't pay income tax.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by the_tyrant

you know what, I would actually hope that someday governments would "compete" for your tax dollars. They really need to improve service while reducing price.

Well, that's exactly what they do every 4 years, right? It's called campaigning.