Public Revenue without Taxation - Hardcover

Ronald Burgess

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0856831352 ISBN 13: 9780856831355

Publisher: Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Gordon Brown was a past-master at sneaking in new taxes by stealth, but his efforts as Chancellor and then Prime Minister were merely the latest in a long line of party leaders desperate to extract more money from reluctant taxpayers. This book challenges the need for government to resort to such underhand practices which undermine the economy, killing the goose which lays the golden eggs, and the integrity of the political process. The author argues that not only does taxation flout the principle of private property, but it 'is a primal cause of both inflation and unemployment. Regardless of this, the freely elected governments of contemporary trading economies - with the acquiescence of their electorates - persist in raising the major part, if not all, of their revenues by means of taxation. The immediate cause of such action by governments...is ignorance of any acceptable alternative method of raising sufficient public revenue.' Burgess shows how the development of Keynes' general theory of employment 'leads to the conclusion that an open trading economy is likely to be most competitive, and therefore most prosperous, only when taxation is abolished' - but government must be funded. How can this be done without taxation? To provide an answer he refines Alfred Marshall's distinction between the public and private value of property to reveal an alternative, peculiarly public source of revenue. Unlike a tax, defined by a former Labour Chancellor, Hugh Dalton, as 'a compulsory contribution imposed by a public authority, irrespective of the exact amount of service rendered to the taxpayer in return', the 'public value' identified by Marshall would deliver an exact equivalence between the benefits enjoyed and the amount paid. On the basis of this widely accepted definition, therefore, it is not a tax but the price for services rendered like any other transaction - the price fixed by the market. The author shows how reform may be introduced with a minimum of disruption, so that politicians with an eye to re-election can achieve measurable results during the lifetime of a parliament.

About this title

Review:

""Public Revenue without Taxation" is a work of major importance and demonstrates a practical and dynamic solution to our economic crisis." --"Kand & Liberty"

"Public Revenue without Taxation is a work of major importance and demonstrates a practical and dynamic solution to our economic crisis." --Kand & Liberty

"A carefully reasoned revolutionary thesis for the future prosperity of Britain." --Business Press

Synopsis:

At a time when industrial countries are seeking ways of stimulating their economies without stoking another inflationary boom, the author argues for a reappraisal of the way in which public revenue is raised on the grounds that present taxation methods are essentially inflationary. Because we need taxes, Ronald Burgess considers which are the least bad taxes? He aims to demonstrate that the injustice of taxation is unnecessary when the fundamental law of the market place is allowed to take its course, with those who use and benefit from public outlay bearing the cost of the services they enjoy. The book makes the claim that it is possible to raise public revenue without taxation. So accustomed have people become to being taxed that they take it for granted that government has to raise its revenue by taxation. Historically this is not true, nor is it in principle, as this book demonstrates. To appreciate the argument, it is necessary to be clear what is and what is not a tax, because one cannot rely on the name given by government to determine whether it is a tax or not (National Insurance Contributions are a tax by another name).

Dr Burgess quotes Hugh Dalton's definition with approval - "a tax is a compulsory contribution by a public authority irrespective of the exact amount of service rendered to the taxpayer in return." Burgess refines Alfred Marshall's distinction between the public and private value of freeholds to reveal an alternative, peculiarly public source of revenue, determined by market forces. There is a direct correlation between what is paid and the public services received, so it is not a tax as defined. He develops Keyne's General Theory of Employment to show that "taxation is a primal cause of both inflation and unemployment. Regardless of this, the freely elected governments of contemporary trading economies - with the acquiescence of electorates - persist in raising the major part, if not all, of their revenues by means of taxation. The immediate cause of such action by governments, and for the acquiescence of their electorates, is ignorance of any acceptable alternative method of raising sufficient public revenue."

He also points out that, because governments fail to collect their revenue from this publicly created source, they have to take it from the private property of the taxpayer, infringing his property rights and leading to many distortions of the economy, such as inflation and unemployment, but also to tax havens, flags of convenience and the black economy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0856831352
• ISBN 13: 9780856831355
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 120