>>That is a fiction. Do the retail buyers forward a percentage of the
>>purchase price to the tax office? If not, they aren't paying tax.
>>The person who actually pays the tax pays the tax.
>
>You serious? On most purchases I make in NYC, 8.25% is added to the
>price, which the merchant subsequently remits to the tax collector.
Yes, I'm serious. You say the merchant remits the sales tax to the government. How can you interpret this as other than the merchant paying sales tax?
>There's a debate about who pays corporate taxes or VATs - probably a
>mix of capital and labor.
I take you are attempting to infer that there is NO debate about who pays sales tax, even though I am clearly debating it. As with your argument that the consumer pays sales tax (despite your admission that the retailer actually pays it) you seem to be asserting that black is white. There IS a debate, obviously, we are actually having it even as you assert that there isn't one. ;-)
> The most reactionary states in the U.S. rely heavily on sales taxes
>because they know who pays them - the masses, and not capital.
You may very well think so, but unless that is their stated justification, then I think you will need to give reasoned argument. Even if they actually do think this is true, the retailers who bear the burden of such sales tax might well have different ideas.
Are the retailers unanimous in their admiration for sales tax? If it doesn't cost them anything then they ought to be. You sure they wouldn't prefer to change the mix to other taxes?
> You rarely see business lobbying against sales taxes - but you see
>them lobbying against corp and personal income taxes all the time.
So they aren't unanimous. Of course different businesses are affected differently by the mix of taxes. Those businesses whose costs are heavily geared to labour, complain about payroll and income taxes, because they have to pay those taxes. Retail businesses are more affected by retail sales taxes. Corporations are most affected by corporation tax. The loudest voices will come from the most powerful, so it is unwise to presume that different capitalist sectors all speak with the same voice.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas