On Taxation: How It Is Raised and How It Is Expended (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from On Taxation: How It Is Raised and How It Is Expended

The taxes onpaper and on insurance, and some of the licence duties, are likely to be abolished as soon as the finances will allow but other taxes will probably continue to be levied with increased productiveness. The principal difficulty is with the income tax, which is maintained from year to year in a most unsatisfactory manner. As it is universally admitted that it would be inexpedient to increase the present amount of indirect taxes, we trust the attention of Parliament will be early directed to devise means for a more equitable and com prehensive assessment of the income and propertytax. To abandon our present mixed system of direct and indirect taxes for any exclusive plan of direct taxes on income or on wealth does not seem desirable. We may well pic ture to our mind an ideal community, so enlightened as to the interests of the State, so conscientious as regards the duty they owe to it, and withal so attached and loyal to the constituted authorities, that each member will be ready and willing to pay whatever share of the expense is found necessary for maintaining order and security. Such a community will, doubtless, prefer paying the amount required in a direct manner, rather than by any indirect and shifting process; but, under present circumstances, we should scarcely be justified in acting on such an assumption.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.