Which is better, a fee based system, or taxation, and why?

I care less about the method of taxation as much as I care about what the government does with the revenue. I’m a fan of the idea of a flat tax for everyone. Maybe those who make more have to pay a little more than they are now but it seems the most equitable way of doing things.

Taxation. People with more assets and more income benefit proportionately more from public goods, and putting a flat fee on many services would price them out of some people’s ability to pay.

(Suppose there was a $500/year fee to have police coverage. How many people in poor crime-ridden neighborhoods would pay that? How many people in affluent neighborhoods would pay it? Do you think that would improve the problem?)

And then, how do you ascertain what the proper fee for being protected by the military is? Or what the proper fee for having a professional fire department available? Or having a great public university in your town, if you don’t actually take classes there yourself?

For some things, though, fees work acceptably well: having a dog-ownership fee, or having a bill based on use for things like water and sewer.

don’t we have both already?

Do you think those 10mph speed limits are for safety??? Or the plethora of fines and fees communities impose are for “educational” purposes? And are we not paying up the wazoo for every bridge we cross?

Tolls and Taxes. A happy medium. Why not fall back on import tariffs again, too, while we’re at it? It used to work…

@TaoSan: the motivation for this question was a couple of starry-eyed anarchists claiming that life would be better for everyone if we could all opt out of government and taxes, instead paying a fee for any services we actually used. Police fee, sidewalk fee, highway fee, street light fee, and so on.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic: One of the problems with most flat tax proposals is that it’s easier for the wealthy to pay even less in taxes under them than they do under the current progressive system. They’re superficially appealing, but unless you eliminate all deductions and exemptions—and people will fight like hell to keep the charitable contribution deduction and the exemption for dependents, so that will take a lot of political will—they’re actually worse deals for the average person.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Actually, I prefer a graduated type flat tax, with the lowest income paying zero tax. A tax based simply on earnings and revenue of all kinds, no matter how many people you support, zero deductions.

Many people argue about the fraud and corruption in Government as an excuse to want out of the system. I would like to ask, how is fraud and corruption going to be eliminated on the fee based system? Say you and your neighbors decide to pave your street, and Fred, next door, has a brother who will do it for you.

How can you be sure the brother is qualified? How can you be sure he isn’t giving Fred a kickback for offering? Having a local, fee based system will do nothing to eliminate the common human issues.

I don’t know. I just teabag.

Taxation is best for society as a whole. I would personally love to be able to opt out of certain tax items, but it’s very hard to draw the line between what I use directly and indirectly. Once I start making enough money to care about losing it to taxes, I shall decide how to proceed. I will likely move to another country, one where success is not penalized as it is here in Canada.