An Argument Against Sudden Tax Upheaval

Day 1,014, 13:05 • Published in South Korea France • by Yonai Keiko

Quite a few proposals have been rushed into consideration the past few days since the beginning of the new Congressional session. A large number of these proposals have been intent on changing our nation's tax code. I would like to prevent an argument against these changes. My goals through this article are 1) to educate citizens as to why our tax code was put in place, 2) stress the necessity of proper debate regarding economic policies, and 3) push for a halt to new tax change proposals until a proper discussion has been had on the subject.

The Tax Code
Before the implementation of our tax code, income taxes were at 5% with the exception of Houses, Defence Systems, and the raw materials other than Grain. The former two were at 10%, and the latter were at 50%. Import taxes were at 10% for everything, but the the raw materials, Hospitals, Defence Systems. Grain and Defence Systems were at 99%, Hospitals were at 20%, and all the other raw materials were at 1%. VAT was at 1% for Houses, 10% for hospitals and Defence Systems, and 3% for all other goods.

The tax code proposed a universal increase in income tax to 10% to support the funding for the military, with the exception of the four raw materials not present in our nation (Iron, titanium, Oil, Stone) which were kept at 50% income tax to encourage anyone setting up these companies within our nation. Low-skilled individuals in our nation average a wage of .20 KRW per hour. Assuming the individual works an average 8 hour day, they would be paid 1.6 KRW before income tax. The increase from 5% (1.52 KRW) to 10% (1.44 KRW) means a difference of about .08 KRW per day. Altogether, not a very big cost to fund the military. Citizens are still more than able to purchase food daily. The tax code also proposed a 10% import tax in all industries but the raw materials. Grain was kept at 99% to continue eliminating foreign competition in our only raw material industry, and the other raw materials were kept at 1% to encourage foreign companies to export their products to our rather resource-starved nation. Finally, VAT was lowered to 1% across the board to counteract the increase in income tax. This means that citizens pay less for products, namely food.
Debating Proposals
Currently tax proposals were launched willy-nilly without cohesion or debate. Income taxes were lowered for certain industries, without consideration for other industries. When considering making a tax proposal, one must ask themself the effects of your actions. Lowering the ioncome tax means lowering funding for the military and our social programs. Lowering import taxes means taking away the small advantage that our native business owners have against foreign competitoprs. And increases in VAT will certainly make prices go up and make it harder for South Korean citizens to afford goods and might turn them away from our markets and towards foreign markets.

I am not saying that change is not a positive thing, nor am I discouraging the use of the powers the people have invested into our elected congressional representatives. What I asm asking for is that members of Congress sit down together and debate their proposals before submitting them. My good friend, Aspadora published an article in which he e😜lained his tax proposals. Publishing your proposed changes in the media is a great way to actively find out what the people think about these issues, and to learn informatuion about taxes that you might not have known before.

Without proper debate, good decisions are usually not made, particularly when it comes down to economics.
Calling for a Hold
In accompaniment to my request for proper debate, I am asking that members of Congress stop shooting of proposals like wildfire, as we've seen in the past few days. Discusss with your fellow members of Congress, as well as the citizens that you represent, and find out how to best improve the situation of our country, taking into account as many factors as we can muster. Once you think you've formulated a good tax plan, put it before Congress in the media or on the forums. Look to see if there's a common consensus amongst the citizens and members of Congress. If there isn't such an agreement, rethink your policies, taking into account why people supported your plan and why people didn't. Keep reformulating your tax plan until you're sure that Congress will agree to it. Then you should propose the changes, or have other willing Congress members propose the changes in your stead.
I don't claim to be an economic expert, not in real life, nor in the eWorld. However, I do understand the principles of debate and how useful it can be in making decisions, as well as the negative effects of rushing through proposals without debate. Thus I encourage you to take the information you've gleaned from this article, talk with your fellows, and start an active debate on the subject.

-Yonai Keiko