Why Should The Rich Pay More Taxes

Categories: MoneyTax

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “ I like to pay taxes,. With them, I buy civilization”. Taxes are obligatory fees charged on individuals enforced by law and the government. These funds helps with government activities. Citizens are charged according to how much income each makes a year. However, the most wealthiest people in society pays less taxes than most of the other classes due to loopholes. Taxes should be increased on the wealthy to reduce inequality in taxes paid. This will lessen loopholes that favor the wealthy, and benefit the economy by increasing the lives of the poor.

So should the rich pay more taxes ?

Due to loopholes, the wealthy usually pay an overall lower tax rate which leads to economic inequality creating a massive gap between the classes. According to the Former United States secretary of labor Robert Reich and American economist John Lott, “many rich people will still pay a lower overall rate because most of their income is from capital gains-increases in the value in their investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than income salary”.

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Wealthy people pay lower taxes due to loopholes and also because their investment income are taxed lower than their salary. Andre Vitell, a journalist who focuses on the north American finances states that “even with higher tax rates, the country’s wealthiest will be fine. But for the government to provide basic housing, nourishment, healthcare and education to the rest of its citizens. The money must come from somewhere. For the most fortunate to fail to pay their fair share would be a moral failure”.

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It is fair for the rich to be taxed on their salary, but it is not fair when their investment income are taxed lower because then they get to make more riches and keep their wealth within their families. It is just fair to tax investment income on the rich. It makes no economic sense when the wealthy are avoiding taxes while the other classes struggles to pay the rest.

Taxes should be raised on the wealthy because without fixing loopholes, the economic inequality or the gap between classes will grow bigger and worst. The increasing of tax rate on investment could not only help with government activities but can also be used to help the poor. According to the Center for American Progress, Piketty a French economist argues that “economic inequality will grow even worse over time. If Capital, or wealth, grows faster than the economy, then the owners of that capital and their heirs will amass an even larger share of the total national wealth over time”. Too many loopholes available for the rich will lead to expanding in own personal wealth and not the economy of the country. American For the Fairness states that “the gap between the wealthy and everyone else has grown wider than ever. The extremely rich aren’t only earning and owning more, many are also passing wealth to their heirs tax-free, creating a new American aristocracy with vast fortunes”. Not only that it is unfair for the middle and lower class, but loopholes also help the rich to earn and own more wealth which can cause a downfall in the economy.

Money raised when the taxes are equally paid can be used to improve the lives of the poor which is socially and beneficially beneficial for all. Even though some may argue that raising tax rates on the wealthy will reduce job opportunities due to shrink in companies, Andrew Vitelli argues that “taxing the rich to pay for programs that help the poor and middle class makes common sense economically” There is a lot of people in America who are unemployed and homeless, bringing down the economy in ways that people tend to not pay attention to and realize. Bumping the tax on the rich will not only reduce inequality but, it will help the government to provide more programs and opportunities for the poor to become employed. The economy proper when people prosper.

 More people being employed means more people working for the country, distributing and helping the economy prosper. A country without employed people will eventually fail because there are fewer people working for the country. Andrew Vitelli argues that “taxing the rich to pay for programs that help the poor and middle class makes common sense economically” When the wealthy are taxed on their investment income fairly, the government could use that money to provide programs for the poor and more jobs to help with the people’s lives. It is a moral failure to become so selfish and not want to help the lower classes stand on both feet. There will be less unemployment and less homeless people on the street. 

Works cited

  1. American for Tax Fairness. (2022). The Case for Fair Taxation. https://americansfortaxfairness.org/the-case-for-fair-taxation/
  2. Center for American Progress. (2018). Understanding Economic Inequality in the United States. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2018/08/08/454771/understanding-economic-inequality-united-states/
  3. Lott, J. (2022). Why The Wealthy Pay Lower Taxes. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlott/2022/01/24/why-the-wealthy-pay-lower-taxes/?sh=4f9c75764d27
  4. Reich, R. B. (2019). The Wealth Tax That Democrats Need. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/opinion/elizabeth-warren-wealth-tax.html
  5. Vitelli, A. (2022). Why the Wealthy Should Pay More Taxes. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021216/why-wealthy-should-pay-more-taxes.asp
  6. Vitelli, A. (2022). Taxing the Rich to Pay for Programs That Help the Poor and Middle Class Makes Common Sense Economically. The Times Herald-Record. https://www.recordonline.com/story/business/columns/2022/01/09/taxing-rich-pay-programs-help-poor-and-middle-class-makes-common-sense-economically/6515376001/
  7. Wells, S. (2021). The Growing Wealth Gap in the US. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/economy/wealth-gap-inequality-us/index.html
  8. Wolff, E. N. (2019). The Wealth Inequality Problem in One Chart. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/wealth-inequality-problem-one-chart-ncna1047306
  9. Zidar, O. (2019). Tax Cuts for the Rich Are Shrinking the American Middle Class. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/12/tax-cuts-for-the-rich-are-shrinking-the-american-middle-class
Updated: Feb 02, 2024
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Why Should The Rich Pay More Taxes. (2024, Feb 07). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/why-should-the-rich-pay-more-taxes-essay

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