It will also be important to do this so as to ensure that all who will be effected will have as much opportunity as possible to plan for the changes that will take place. It just wouldn’t be good for a landlord or business to be hit with a windfall profits tax and then have a legal battle show that they weren’t given sufficient notice to plan for and effect their own price changes.
Develop clear plan for showing benefits of proposed legislation.
It will be important to show each of the various groups effected how the changes will benefit them.
Show consumer benefits.
Consumers will be looking to know what changes they should expect business to make, and when, as hidden taxes (plus the markup I talked about) stop being part of the prices paid at the store.
Show employee benefits.
Employees will need to know how and when ending certain hidden taxes will make any changes in their take-home pay. I would also suggest that they be advised of any protections against employers attempting to lower employee wages in connection with hidden payroll taxes being ended. Remember, employers will experience a savings by having those payroll taxes end that they have had to pay a matching amount to.
Show business benefits.
Business will be very interested in knowing how and when they will benefit by the proposed changes. They will also need to be clearly advised as to how and under what circumstances any windfall profits taxes would be applied.
Assessing windfall profits taxes, while needed, should be done with care, only after there is clear evidence of unearned profits as a result of hidden taxes being ended.
I believe it would be better to let a certain amount of increased profit go to business as a result of ending hidden taxes.
One of the potential benefits of doing this would be as a way to provide business with an incentive to use those new profits to expand their business in anticipation of the new spending consumers who are also employees would be doing with their increased take-home pay and the lower prices on consumer goods.
Show how neediest members of society will benefit.
It will be very important to be able to show the neediest members of society how and when they can expect to see the prices they pay for basic necessities to go down. They will also need to know what kind of changes, if any, will occur to any public assistance they are currently receiving.
Show how cost of government will be of benefit
As hidden taxes are ended, it only stands to reason that government will also experience at least some degree of lower prices on the items it purchases and consumes. Ending the hidden payroll taxes of business would also end the same payroll taxes for government employees.
Another point to consider is that if transparent tax rates are based on the most recent consumer spending trends, and if there is a realistic expectation of increased consumer spending in connection with some of the planned changes, then there is the potential for the total dollar amount of transparent taxes coming into government to be larger than the dollar amount of the hidden taxes that are being ended.
While this would most likely not happen overnight, it could happen, and there should be at least a contingency plan in place for what to do with these “windfall” new tax dollars.
Higher Levels of Government should work with Lower Levels.
Some counties and cities may not currently be in the habit of attracting the kinds of consumer oriented business that would have transparent taxes added on to customer purchases. This may be due to a heavy industrial focus in the business development plan of a city or county.
In these cases, it may be necessary to adjust the timing of how and when some hidden taxes are ended so as to give time for these cities and counties to develop and implement plans to attract more of the needed consumer oriented businesses.
It is important to remember that manufacturing and industrial jobs are often considered as good paying jobs. At the same time, those same businesses are not good sources of transparent taxes because most of their customers are other businesses.
Any transparent tax added to the price of products that are sold to the next level of business, rather than to consumers, would become just another form of hidden tax to the business making the purchase. Transparent taxes should not be added on to any items purchased by business for “resale.”
Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else. But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."
David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper. All right reserved
No part or portion of this publication may be modified in any manner without the express written permission of the author. Quoting from this publication is allowed on condition that the name of the author and the name of the publication are included.
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