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German perspective, I don't know what is applicable to the US and other countries.
First and foremost: Removing sales tax on (basic) food. Sales tax in general hits the low income population much harder than any other tax. Lowering income tax when your income is low or non existent doesn't help as much as just to not pay an additional 7-19% on bread, milk, eggs, legumes, fruit, vegetables.
Build more affordable housing and capping rent pricing.
Increase social security and unemployment to boost the economy. Poor people don't save up. What they get they spend. Every 1€ they get will immediately go back into the economy, hence creating economic growth, which then will create more jobs that need to be filled. The stupidest thing one can do in times of crises when people are unemployed is to save to push them into non existent jobs. If jobs and income make people richer, then you have to provide jobs to begin with. A saving instead of spending economic mindset of the public is the worst thing you can do there, and this especially regards government payouts to low/no income individuals. Or, you know, invest in people.
Inheritance tax. Raise the limit of tax free inheritance, but after that limit is reached, tax much, much more. Nobody cares if you inherit a 2M € mansion. Hell make it a 10M mansion. These aren't the inheritances we should be worrying about, and making sure everybody knows it is not about their family's house being taxed away from them will hopefully increase support for inheritance tax.
Where can you buy a 2M euro mansion? Here in BW a million buys you a small house, or even just a Wohnung.
Those who own a house worth one or two million euros aren't rich. They'll have bought it for peanuts a decade ago. They'll have worked hard and paid plenty of tax. So why charge more tax on top of that after they've died? You're just punishing their children, who aren't going to be well off by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm all for levying inheritance tax on the properties owned by millionaires and billionaires and their trust fund babies, naturally.
I must have phrased it poorly because that is what I meant. Don't tax 2Mil+ houses. Unfortunately right now when people think about inheritance tax this is what comes to mind. I don't care if you inherit a huge house tax free. I care if you inherit massive wealth. A high priced family home is not massive wealth.
Would removing the sales tax be in addition to the wealth tax?
As a counter proposal to reducing or eliminating the sales tax, what would you think about eliminating income tax?
This should be done in general. But before I continue asking questions, are all your suggestions in addition to a wealth tax, all together, or separate?
Great questions!
Yes and no.
Yes, there should be a wealth tax.
No, removing the sales tax stands as a solo proposal.
I am very much for a wealth tax, but removing the sales tax should not be proposed alongside a proposition for a wealth tax. This decreases support since a wealth tax is much more controversial than "hey how about we stop taxing bread?"
(In Germany, income tax is progressive, but I think that the following also applies to countries like Russia, where everyone is taxed 13% of their income.) Eliminating income tax would be a massive tax reduction for the most wealthy. Meanwile, people on social security or low income would basically hardly have any additional money. Studies have shown that sales tax is the tax that, percentage wise, is by far the greatest burden on low/no income households.
As briefly mentioned above, I am very much pro wealth tax, but you do not need a wealth tax for the suggestions to be sensible. They can stand alone, and they should, since it is easier to get a majority to agree to them one by one (or to somemof them) than to the whole package.
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I would also like to add: free public transport, investing in public transport, invest in (free) education programs, free childcare, and strengthening union rights so that workers have more leverage.
As well as, and this will probably sound insanely evil, but I want it to sound this way, because removing the humanitarian aspect of accepting refugees and immigrants can be beneficial if you want to have right wing people on your side: let more foreigners in. You get young workers that are highly eager to work. They will send money home, sure, but they will also spend money. Get the ruble rolling. Again, they also gotta eat, gotta live, gotta get clothes. They will spend everything they earn one way or another, and this will boost the economy - since most of them work in low paying jobs and won't put their money in the bank. Hell they will pay taxes and contribute to the pension fund and stuff! You want foreigners! You're getting fresh meat to exploit!