And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike… (Mosiah 29:32; Book of Mormon)
There has been a lot of discussion in the political world about taxation and how the rich need to pay their “fair share” of the tax burden. I could go into a lot about the actual economic facts about the situation that show that the rich do pay far more than the rest of us. However, what I would like to focus on today is just what is a “fair tax” and how can it be implemented.
As a Libertarian, I want to reduce the total tax burden of all citizens in this nation. There is no reason we should have to pay income, sales, excise, import, inheritance, property taxes and the many more we must pay everyday. The Federal, State and Local governments place a huge burden on the people of this nation. What we really need to do is streamline the tax system and implement a fair tax.
When I say a fair tax, I mean it. We need to get cut down to the fewest number of taxes possible. For individuals and families, we really only need one tax. After careful study, I have changed from a support of only a sales tax to only an income tax. An income tax is the easiest to regulate and collect. It is also the fairest way to do it.
But just what is a fair income tax to me? Well for that, I think we can look to the scriptures for guidance in this policy. God has implemented one of the fairest systems ever for financing his church, Tithing.
And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law law unto them forever… (Doctrine and Covenants 119:4)
God in his infinite wisdom declared that all mankind, whether rich or poor, should pay only one tenth of their income. There are no curves, deductions or loopholes. This is the type of law we should be emulating in our tax code.
Now this is not to say that 10% is what we should put it at. Whatever we do choose, it needs to be the least burdensome to all those being taxed. Whatever we choose as the limit, it needs to be free from any type of exploitation or loopholes for anyone of any income level. It can also be evaluated regularly to adjust the amount paid based on the real costs of a limited government.
Finally, I want to emphasize that such a system of taxation cannot work if we continue the waste and fraud present in our governments today. We currently wast trillions of dollars on programs that are better suited to the private markets. The federal government performs a lot of functions that are best served by the states and local governments. We are wasting billions on wars and foreign aid that provides no positive impact on our own nation and little to no positive impact on the nations that are affected.
If we are willing to do what is needed to bring fairness back to taxes and limits to government, we can bring this country back to prosperity. Yet, this will not happen with our current representation. Neither the Republican or Democratic parties have shown a willingness to reduce the size and scope of government. Neither have shown a true desire to bring fairness to the tax system.The only party today that will willing to do what is necessary to bring fairness to the tax code is the Libertarian Party.
