[Gllug] BBC Open Source: OT

[Liam Smit]

> > > > > 1. The money goes directly to the BBC and not into a central pot - more
> > > > > taxes should be like this,

> > > > Agreed: Road Tax should go on Roads, Fuel Tax should go on Fuel/Transport
> >
> > > And the tax on beer should go to build breweries, I suppose?
> >
> > Hmm Well, Yes, But since drinking causes problems for peoples
> > health, and public behavour the money should be spent on that (ie NHS,
> > Police) Otherwise we would be spending Smokers Tax on building more
> > places to make ciggerates.... Sorry had to you logic just did not work.
> 
> Errr, what? Try and follow what I'm doing; pointing out an absurd
> consequence of the hypothecation argument. Pointing out another one
> does not really show a flaw in my argument.

In his defense your logic is way out there e.g. taxing beer to build
breweries. The profit made on beer pays towards building breweries
(internalised cost). The tax on beer would be to pay towards
externalised costs e.g. AA support groups, more police, liver
transplants, etc. The other effect of a tax is to reduce usage i.e. if
you want less of something then tax it, so if you want less beer
drinking then put a tax on it.

What he was arguing for was to not tax beer to pay for roads or a war
etc. Tax road users to pay for roads. It doesn't hurt to show a little
imagination here and realise that roads are not the only thing to
spend the money on, e.g. more buses and trains means taking the load
off the road which improves the road service for those paying for the
privilege of using them via e.g. a tax on fuel.

Things like hospitals, wars, etc generally come out of general
taxation e.g. income and company tax because they are not specific.

Of course I think it is important to state that you can't
compartmentalise things completely when trying to determine the
effects and costs of a particular activity and trying to balance these
out by allocating takings from a tax levied on the activity. But maybe
this means that some portion e.g. 20% of the tax on e.g. beer goes
into the general pot and not to the NHS, police, etc while the rest of
such general expenses be met out of general taxation mentioned above.

You've also got to remember that when you or I buy a beer, the non-tax
portion of the price paid goes to the businesses in the supply chain
which pays for staff to be employed, profits for owners and
shareholders, taxes paid to the government, expenditure directed to
suppliers of other services e.g. rent, power, etc. Maybe a few hidden
positives there which with beer tax are reduced because of e.g. home
brewing, less drinking, etc.

Also something to remember is that when I earn a salary I pay tax on
it, then when I choose to buy something I pay vat on it, and the
people to whom I pay the money pay tax on their profits etc... Taxes
on taxes.

Which is why at the end of the day I don't necessarily call for small
government but I demand efficient government, I'm forced to pay tax so
the least they can do is not waste my and my fellow taxpayers' money
when they are delivering whatever services they are providing.

Maybe the government should be forced to give better accounts of just
what it spends the money on, i.e not just by sector but by how much
each sector provides so we can see if they are wasting money anywhere.

Cheers
Liam
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