Sep 5, 2018 · 1 min read
What about selective taxes to affect behaviour, e.g. the sugar tax? Or incentivise particular industries?
Thanks for this question, David Crebbin! And you also shared this quote with me:
“In a free market the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, by a price-setting monopoly, or by other authority.”
Indeed I think that the market would decide. There are many forces on behaviour. Media, celebrities / influencers, advertising etc. Do we need to use tax too?
I have taken the position that the smallest thing a government needs to know about a transaction is the tax residency of the participants. A tiny transaction tax would enable governments to raise whatever they need.
But if they wanted to, using metadata about the product or service exchanged they could apply more complex tax rules.
