[Pet_Ant]

I’m assuming they think that rich people spend more so they pay more. This is a fallacy, because poor people spend a higher portion of their income (over a 100% a lot of the time).

[epolanski]

Most economists agree that sales taxes are the fairest because they are always proportional to consumption.

[thisislife2]

I don't get it - what about "taxing consumption" makes it "fair"? Poor people aren't poor because they spend more money than others. They are poor because they don't have enough money to live a "decent" life (assume a middle-class lifestyle) or to even save it. Right?

[lazylizard]

i thought most economists would agree that consumption should be encouraged and savings should be discouraged. and that'd be how progressive taxes work? people tend to save more and consume less as their incomes increase?

[IAmBroom]

Citation required.

The economists I've read disagree strongly.