The mirage of mark-to-market: distributive justice and alternatives to capital taxation

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 25 (2):211-234 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Substantially increased wealth inequality across the developed world has prompted many philosophers, economists and legal theorists to support comprehensive taxes on all forms of wealth. Proposals include levying taxes on the basis of total wealth, or alternatively the change in the value of capital holdings measured from year-to-year. This contrasts with most existing policies that tax capital assets at the point they are transferred from one beneficiary to another through sale or gifts. Are these tax reforms likely to meet their aims of greater economic and political equality? We argue that these policies are likely to fail because, following neoclassical economic theory, they are based on a conception of capital as possessing given values in what amounts to a static equilibrium. This mischaracterizes the dynamic and subjective character of market economies and the contested value of real instantiations of capital goods. This makes them very difficult, often impossible, to value apart from at the point of voluntary transfer or profit realization. This means most taxes levied on a mark-to-market basis will be arbitrary and unfair. We propose alternative policies based on an income realization approach to taxation that are more likely to curb excessive wealth holdings. This includes introducing international treaties that prohibit preferential tax treatment for individual companies and specific sectors, and broadening the income tax base to include the imputed rent of personal housing wealth.

Similar books and articles

Turning the Tide on Tax.Martin O'Neill - 2015 - In Daisy-Rose Srblin (ed.), Values Added: Rethinking Tax for the 21st Century. Fabian Society. pp. 11-16.
Distributive Justice, Injustice and Beyond Justice.Wei Xiaopin - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 50:857-872.
Ethics and Taxation: A Theoretical Framework.Ronald M. Green - 1984 - Journal of Religious Ethics 12 (2):146 - 161.
Democratic Distributive Justice.Ross Zucker - 2000 - Cambridge University Press.
Price gouging, non-worseness, and distributive justice.Matt Zwolinski - 2009 - Business Ethics Quarterly 19 (2):295-306.
The market, competition, and equality.Peter Dietsch - 2010 - Politics, Philosophy and Economics 9 (2):213-244.
Corrective vs. Distributive Justice: the Case of Apologies.Andrew I. Cohen - 2016 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 19 (3):663-677.
Justice and Taxation.Daniel Halliday - 2013 - Philosophy Compass 8 (12):1111-1122.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-07-28

Downloads
342 (#53,760)

6 months
96 (#37,126)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author Profiles

Citations of this work

Capital, Ideology, and the Liberal Order.Vincent Geloso & Nick Cowen - 2021 - Analyse & Kritik 43 (2):413-435.

Add more citations

References found in this work

A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition.John Rawls - 1999 - Harvard University Press.
Survey Article: Philosophy and Public Policy after Piketty.Martin O'Neill - 2017 - Journal of Political Philosophy 25 (3):343-375.
Tax Competition and Global Background Justice.Peter Dietsch & Thomas Rixen - 2014 - Journal of Political Philosophy 22 (2):150-177.
BEPS, tax sovereignty and global justice.Laurens van Apeldoorn - 2018 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 21 (4):478-499.

View all 11 references / Add more references