14 Mar 2018 Should There Be A Consumption Tax?

Should There Be A Consumption Tax?

I don’t think it would be a revelation for people to know that relatively small percentage of the population consumes a greater amount of resources. I would venture to guess it is the 80/20 rule. It is time that we have it graduated consumption tax on people. I understand it will be a challenge to set the standard personal rate for how much the average citizen should be charged for electricity, water and natural gas. Just because it is a challenge does not mean we shouldn’t do it. There would be an intense lobbying effort on Congress about this.

There are not unlimited resources in the world and the population keeps growing. In no way am I saying that everyone should have the exact same housing and car. What I am proposing is if you choose to have a larger home or car that you pay more for your Utilities on a per unit cost basis. If you use twice the amount of electricity than the average, you should not just pay double. Al Gore who is looked at as one of the world leaders in defending the environment had a large mansion in Tennessee that put his carbon footprint probably in the 1% class.

An area where this gets challenging is in boats and airplanes. I would use the same criteria and that you set a standard for a size of the boat and airplane and apply a graduated expense.

How do we apply this to the business world? Let’s look at hotels. Should there be a standard room size for hotels that use a calculated amount of resources? Also, trying to evaluate an office building will generate a lot of debate. I know there are certifications for how environmentally friendly the building is. But how do you translate that into the utility bills?

Some might say how can I support a flat tax on income, but a graduated tax on consumption? I don’t consider these equivalent at all. I could ask the reverse why is it okay to have a graduated income tax but not one on consumption?

Taking on anything to do with the tax code will test anyone. The entrenched bureaucracies in Washington would do all in their power to complicate something that at its core seems pretty simple. However, it is time to fight those bureaucracies into a debate all areas of the tax code.