For the next nine months Presidential candidates will be talking about taxes. One candidate is proposing abolition of the IRS. There will be a lot of loose talk about the death tax, the capital gains tax, the income tax, etc. Income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes are the big three. Mercifully, this editorial will be of limited length. So, what is a fair tax? The simplest tax is a head tax, one of biblical simplicity, and no longer in fashion. The head tax spared the rich and burdened the poor. That left fairness in the eyes of the beholders. In 1791 a tax on whiskey gave large distillers a break and was very unpopular with small distillers. Large distillers must have already grasped the concept of lobbying Congress. "Fair" to some and "unfair" to others. Sales taxes nibble away all year, but are less burden on those who spend a small portion of their income on the necessities of life than those with small incomes. People of wealth prefer sales taxes as a means of funding government. Poor people think sales taxes are not fair. Graduated income taxes were designed to move the tax burden to those who had an income beyond a minimum. The wealthy found this unfair, and do so today. In theory the wealthy have paid as much as 92 percent of income in the top tax bracket. Currently the top bracket is 35 percent. Yet, Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the U.S., has pointed out that his wise use of the tax code lets him pay a smaller percentage of his income than his secretary. He is candid enough to say that the rules are unfair. The members of Congress are surely wealthier than the public-at- large. Is it strange that the tax laws favor the wealthy? Taxes on property are a major source of revenue for county governments. Perhaps property taxes are the most unfairly applied of all taxes. In Levy County owners of a square mile of "agricultural" land pay about $2.50 per acre in property taxes. Meanwhile the same land is often for sale as housing developments. Large tract of "agricultural land" near Chiefland and Williston sell for high prices and continue to be taxed at the "agricultural' rate. Furthermore, residential properties are taxed at greatly different rates under the protection of homesteading and caps on increases. "Fair" to some and "unfair to others. Taxes to support schools seem unfair to tax payers with no children, and fair to those with many children. Fairness in taxation is impossible. So when you hear a candidate for public office say a tax is unfair, ask yourself which constituency he plans to serve. | 