Suppose that every
day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they
paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this...
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you
are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost
of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten men would now cost just
$80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first
four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the
other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so
that everyone would get his fair share?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that
from every body's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up
being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by
a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax
system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he
suggested that each should now pay.
And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to
drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their
savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man.
He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a
dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10
back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't
get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!" The nine men
surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down
and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered
something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even
half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax
system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get
the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being
wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start
drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
