Oh great, the Republicans want a FLAT TAX

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Last Conformist

Depends. Herearounds, at least, sellers of relatively expensive things like home electronics (TV sets, computers, etc) like to state the pretax price, which means you notice the extra dozens or hundreds of bucks you have to pay in VAT alot.

I don't doubt you, but that seems kind of silly. If you're going to do that, then you might as well call it a sales tax and be done with it.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Kid...but um....that's why we call them "the rich" Get it? LOL!

-=Vel=-

You have a sense of humor as well as a imagination.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
And of course there's the "grey economy"; if you sell your old computer to your friend for a hundred bucks, it's not like you're gonna pay any VAT. I do not know where the exact limits of legality go here.

In most countries there is a threshold limit of trade that you can perform before requiring to register for VAT. Some countries its low, others its quite high. I think the average is around €50,000 for Europe in general.

[Velociryx]

Nahhh, America has always excelled at crisis management. Things just haven't reached critical mass yet.

When they do...trust me....sparks are gonna FLY!

So sure...let's play. Let's see what the fundies have in store for us!

-=Vel=-
(tho I agree, while we're waiting for the fit to hit the shan, it might not be a bad idea to start putting together a coherent message! Nonetheless, by the time this administration is done with the US economy and diplomatic standing around the globe....nahhh, there's not even an analogy that comes CLOSE!)

[Kidlicious]

According to this any sort of consumption tax (VAT) will cause a greater trade deficit, but attract foreign investment, which could be bad in the short run, but possibly good in the long run.

Most of the studies in the survey conclude that, in addition to attracting foreign investment to the United States, a consumption tax may also encourage U.S. firms to locate projects in the United States that might otherwise have gone abroad. Since international investment and trade flows are inherently linked, any changes in foreign investment into the United States are accompanied by short-run changes in the U.S. trade balance. To the extent that international investment flows into (out of) an economy, the trade balance moves towards deficit (surplus). In the long run, increases in investment from both foreign and domestic sources tend to enhance an economy's competitiveness by increasing its productivity and tend to increase national economic welfare.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Nahhh, America has always excelled at crisis management. Things just haven't reached critical mass yet.

When they do...trust me....sparks are gonna FLY!

So sure...let's play. Let's see what the fundies have in store for us!

-=Vel=-
(tho I agree, while we're waiting for the fit to hit the shan, it might not be a bad idea to start putting together a coherent message! Nonetheless, by the time this administration is done with the US economy and diplomatic standing around the globe....nahhh, there's not even an analogy that comes CLOSE!)

Only morons and communists welcome crisis. I'll play with you.

[Velociryx]

Not true! Look at how many people actually voted our president back for a second round of fun!



-=Vel=-

[Arrian]

Morons, Vel, morons.

-Arrian

[Velociryx]

Now, now, Arrian....Bush gets all his edicts direct from Baby Jesus and the Fundie Right.

You don't think for a SECOND they'd steer us down a dangerous path, do you?!?!?!?

-=Vel=-

[Arrian]

Oh, nah, I mean it's not like they want to bring on the Apocalypse or anything. Heh. Silly me, what was I thinking?

-Arrian

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Kontiki


I don't doubt you, but that seems kind of silly. If you're going to do that, then you might as well call it a sales tax and be done with it.

Well, except that no-one here has heard of a sales tax, while everybody knowns what VAT is (well, the Swedish abbreviation is moms, but same difference).

This thread has left me unclear whether there's supposed to be a differences between a VAT and a sales tax; I thought not, but some comments here made it sound it's not.

Anyway, the idea behind stating the pretax price is, I believe, psychological - a lower number on the goodie gives a more positive first impression, which, so the seller hopes, will influence later conscious decisions based on the de facto (posttax) price.

[Velociryx]

Well, Haliburton et. al. would have a REALLY good year in the event of the Apocalypse tho....



-=Vel=-

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Last Conformist

Well, except that no-one here has heard of a sales tax, while everybody knowns what VAT is (well, the Swedish abbreviation is moms, but same difference).

This thread has left me unclear whether there's supposed to be a differences between a VAT and a sales tax; I thought not, but some comments here made it sound it's not.

Anyway, the idea behind stating the pretax price is, I believe, psychological - a lower number on the goodie gives a more positive first impression, which, so the seller hopes, will influence later conscious decisions based on the de facto (posttax) price.

I've seen gas stations here that give the pre-gas tax price of gas here, but it's not on the big sign. It's in small letters on the pumps. It's a political thing.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by Japher


It was something. Not sure if it was an oversight or some sort of under the table deal to encourage trade.



It's not. I think everyone can have the best of both worlds. I have long contested that this, "spend the money to create jobs for the poor while providing a valuable service for them", is the problem.

In the standard AVT system, exports are not charged with AVT, and imports are in the same rate that local goods; this is designed to create a fair competition between goods locally made and goods made abroad. This AVT on imports is NOT a custom duty.

[Last Conformist]

@Kid: I don't think the political aspect is relevant in the Swedish case. There's anyone in particular arguing against VATs as such (altho there's continual calls, usually from the left, to extend one exemption or another).