Comment on Isn't EU's "VAT" a regressive tax? Why do they have that, instead of something like, taxing the rich?

• DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Because VAT id proportional to the item, not the person’s income. From one perspective, yes it’s a fair system but from another, the cost of living is significantly greater for a poor person than a wealthy person. Many are barely scraping by while others are out wining and dining and still getting plenty for free.

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  • Apepollo11@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    I don’t understand what you mean “still getting plenty for free”.

    I agree that there shouldn’t be this kind of wealth inequality, and it’s madness that people are starving in countries that are so prosperous, but it’s a little disingenuous to ignore the fact that wealthier people pay more in tax. They’re not getting stuff for free, they’re getting stuff for more than it costs poorer people.

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    • DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      The thing that comes to mind is Amazon being given bramd new warehouses by governments in exchange for barely-humane working conditions. This means, the working stiff has payed for their ability to get a job. Company expansion should come out of that same company’s profit margin, not the back pocket of the working force.

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      • Apepollo11@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Ah, ok. Sorry, I thought you were referring to well-off ‘ordinary’ people.

        Totally agree that the way governments fawn over corporations is beyond the pale.

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    • boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Exactly. I get free healthcare like someone who’s being paid minimum wage (or an unemployed person who has registered as unemployed), but I also pay a significant amount in taxes and for most of my working career, that has been money that comes from outside the EU, as I’ve worked for multiple software companies selling their product/services to foreign markets.

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