this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Toronto
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Sales tax uniformly applies to everyone by the same absolute amount but relatively affects poorer people more. The city should just raise property taxes instead. May help reduce the housing cost as well which would make the city more affordable.
Important stuff like basic groceries are exempt. Also, there is a tax rebate for those of lower incomes, so its affect is primarily on those who have greater wealth. What's being discussed is a one percent addition; hence, a penny from moneyed spendthrifts for integrity of services within the city. Sounds good to me.
Sure groceries are exempt, but there is a limit on how much you can reasonably spend. At the rate housing and asset prices are, there appears no limit on how much your wealth can grow. So instead of using a proxy metric (spending) to tax people with wealth, just go after it directly instead.
You're suggesting a municipal income tax? I doubt that would come to fruition. Again, there is a rebate for those in lower incomes, which I believe addresses your initial concern.
Not sure how you got to that conclusion. I said wealth, not income. Wealth inequality is not the same as income inequality and taxing incoming doesn't fix wealth inequality. Neither does taxing consumption, as most people tend to horde their wealth in some sort of asset.