Originally Posted by
UlleyMiller
Being taxed shouldn't be viewed as being penalised. The system should act as a recognition of the state's ability to provide somewhere that wealth creation is viable and safe. All earnings, idealistically, should be taxed on a continuous sliding scale and reflect a person's abilities and efforts in tandem with the efforts and by-products of their output. If you earn minimum wage, you should be paying the least amount of tax, and once your earnings are clearly not feasible for a person to earn on just their own steam, you should be at 99% for anything beyond the relevant threshold.
It's very subjective to tax wealth, but it's justifiable to tax land or any other appreciable assets which increase in worth beyond the rate of inflation, and without any effort. For what it's worth, inheritance tax should follow similar principles and a meaningful sliding scale. There is clearly a point where people didn't 'earn' the sort of money they have, and it's far easier to justify taxation than their entitlement.