The Philosophy of Wealth Distribution
Day 1,344, 19:17
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Published in Canada 
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by
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by Jacobi
This is not about the rich versus the poor. This is about the active versus the less active. There are no barriers to any Canadian citizen to receive government funding besides activity.
----
Let me begin with a state of the nation.
As of the time of this writing there are 1,781 citizens of Canada.
There were 667 votes on average in the last three Congressional elections.
There were 682 votes on average in the last three Presidential elections.
There are approximately 400 Canadians involved in a Military Unit of varying degrees of activity. A sample of three days during the height of the war revealed that an average of 291 of them fought each day during that period.
According to the website,egov4you.info an average of 547 Canadians fought over the past three days.
At any time there are around 70 people in the #ecan channel on IRC, many but not all of which are Canadian citizens.
There is an average of 247 posts on the ecanada.cc forums made per day, and at the time of this writing, there are 20 persons currently logged in to the forums.
According to numbers presented by the Minister of Finance, tax revenue has decreased from the start of our President’s term from 35,000 a day to 21,000 a day. This is in spite of recent tax increases.
That is Canada.
Taxes and Engagement
There are differing levels of engagement and activity in erepublik, which I’m certain I have no need of telling anyone who is reading this. This article, which will be sent to more inboxes than there are living Canadians (I must assume most of my subscribers are dead), will likely be read by around 200 citizens, with perhaps slightly more foreigners who are unusually intrigued by Canada. Less than half of those will vote for this article. Less than half of those will comment.
Cause and effect is a tricky thing, but without going into a dissertation of why things are the way they are, it is clear that there is a stratification of our nation. Some log on, work, browse, and log off. Some do more. Some do still more. Some do much more. Some are always doing something.
Taxes in modern eCanada are, for the most part, a redistribution of wealth. At present taxation values, we will receive $630,000 from taxes in the next 30 days, $150,000 of which will go to MPPs. MPPs are the only expenditure of taxes that go to the benefit of all Canadian citizens. The rest go from the many to the few.
Most of these few are organized into the two major military organizations of Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces and The Crimson Order. Most of the members of these organizations have profited from their combined personal activity and affiliation with these organizations. Disregarding anomalous gold buyers , these members, who have traded an increased activity in eCanada for supplies, have increased in rank faster than counterparts outside of the military complex.
This has resulted in an increased gap between the connected and the non-connecte
To go back to the statistics mentioned at the top of this article, of the 547 Canadians who have fought every day on average in the last three days it is safe to presume that around 291 (53
There are 1,781 citizens of Canada, though less than this number work every day – likely around the number of people who vote in Congressional or Presidential elections (upper 600s). Of these not all fight. Of those that fight, around half are involved in organized military units. Of those that are involved in organized military units, a significant amount are funded daily to do so. Of those that are involved and funded, they have a significant likelihood of being better ranked and having higher strength.
This is one component of why we tax the many for the few: Because we are likely to receive much more damage output on the field than if we did not tax.
Taxes and Tactics
Military strategy in erepublik, and influencing battles in erepublik, is based on the ability of concentrating large amounts of damage output in an organized fashion. This is done in many ways.
The first is by asking civilian populations to fight in a selected Campaign of the Day. As we have been able to gather, this will reach a maximum of 550 or so Canadians in a day, when it is activated.
The second is by the creation of media articles alerting Canadians to selected battles that may differ from the Campaign of the Day or may require movement. If we were to use my newspaper as an example (4th in Canada) this will reach around 200 Canadians over a 2 day period.
The third is by mass forum PM, following the same formula as the second method, though is more of a reinforcement of intentions for people who are already active (forumers).
The fourth is by shouting orders, which is limited only to the friends of the shouter.
The final method, and the method that is most widely used and most widely successful, is coordination of military units. Depending on the organizational prowess of the unit, this will reach the 291 daily fighters who are statistically more likely to produce damage.
Let’s talk about the method by which governments determine military targets for a moment, to place the last bit into context. The President, or his designate, receive a list of priorities from the alliances that Canada belong to. From there, the President or his designate, determine the goals of the five methods I have just described. This information is then passed along one or all of those five channels.
The difference between the final method and the first four is critical. Because military units require some sort of activity and some sort of organizational capacity, they are usually the home of those who are active in the game as opposed to those who do not vote in elections and do not fight (the vast majority of our population). These people, organized as they are, can react quicker to the tactical situation than can people who are only logged in once a day, or only fight once a day. Canada’s funding formula in fact recognizes that reality, by placing a greater emphasis (double) on organizations that can be relied upon to create damage output at a specific place and a specific time. Compare the efforts of those outside military organizations as scattershot with varying degrees of success to the precision afforded by a military unit like the CAF or TCO.
Because of nature of the erepublik battle system, a country that is fighting a war must be able to create damage at a specific time and place to win the 8 mini battles in a regional campaign. This creates a premium placed on organizations that can provide significant damage output at those times and places and de-emphasizes the less precise actions of the larger citizenry.
This is the second component of why we tax the many for the benefit of the few: Because the actors of the larger citizenry include those who are not going to fight, include those who have no access or ability to fight where it is needed and when it is needed, and are statistically likely to include those more of those who are not high in rank or strength, wealth distribution exists.
Peacetime VS Wartime
This may be misleading, but by wartime I mean times when Canadian regions are under threat of being conquered and thus decreasing our economic resource efficiency.
During times of peace, this wealth distribution is not as necessary. Taxes fall and economic efficiency is high and the generally laissez faire complexion of Canada reigns. Aside from MPPs and funding to help allies with the aforementioned precision of our more significant and organized military members, wealth distribution can be seen as the exploitation of the inactive for the sake of the active. This is why over the course of Canada’s life, many programs have been created to rescue inactive members of our society and to make them active with varying results.
In wartime, however, it is to no one’s benefit, not the larger citizenry nor the military members, for us to lose regions. Much as income tax hits all Canadians equally, so too does the loss of a resource. Putting aside secondary concerns such as morale and ability to support allies, it is always in Canada’s best interest to gain and retain as many resources as we can within the greater geopolitical situation. With that in mind, in wartime this wealth redistribution increases. We all contribute to the most efficient means available to increase the productivity of all.
Conclusion
Much of the debate that is seen in Congress and in comments is about two competing ideals: Efficiency and Fairness. The reason that I advocate an increase in the income tax in wartime and not in peacetime is directly correlated to this debate.
In wartime, I seek to achieve the most efficient means possible to produce directed damage output. The most efficient means to do so is to fund the high strength, high rank, active members of the population, most of whom are members of Military Units. The most efficient means of doing that is income tax, as it effects all Canadians who work. It taxes all 700 active Canadians a day to provide for the 291 Canadians who fight, and specifically more to the Canadians who can fight as needed in our tactical situation.
I have said it before; the income tax is not fair. It hits the less active and provides them with no tangible benefit. It does, however, provide them with an increased likelihood of the defence of a currently held region or the taking of an enemy held region which directly affects them every time they work in their 4 (or more) companies, none of which fall victim to that tax.
Raising the VAT is an inelegant and inefficient means of creating damage efficiency. The VAT does not affect those who do not fight and disproportionately affects those who fight a lot. Taxing the active to pay the active is not a holistic solution.
Because the income tax is not fair, it is odious to use in peacetime.
Because the income tax is not fair, it is the best means to fight in wartime.
Because those who are active are those who have been funded and are funded, they are more likely to have higher strengths and ranks, which make them more efficient fighters.
Because the game’s war module demands efficiency in fighting, it rewards governments who take from the inactive to give to the active.
That’s the philosophy of wealth distribution in eCanada.
----
Let me begin with a state of the nation.
As of the time of this writing there are 1,781 citizens of Canada.
There were 667 votes on average in the last three Congressional elections.
There were 682 votes on average in the last three Presidential elections.
There are approximately 400 Canadians involved in a Military Unit of varying degrees of activity. A sample of three days during the height of the war revealed that an average of 291 of them fought each day during that period.
According to the website,egov4you.info an average of 547 Canadians fought over the past three days.
At any time there are around 70 people in the #ecan channel on IRC, many but not all of which are Canadian citizens.
There is an average of 247 posts on the ecanada.cc forums made per day, and at the time of this writing, there are 20 persons currently logged in to the forums.
According to numbers presented by the Minister of Finance, tax revenue has decreased from the start of our President’s term from 35,000 a day to 21,000 a day. This is in spite of recent tax increases.
That is Canada.
Taxes and Engagement
There are differing levels of engagement and activity in erepublik, which I’m certain I have no need of telling anyone who is reading this. This article, which will be sent to more inboxes than there are living Canadians (I must assume most of my subscribers are dead), will likely be read by around 200 citizens, with perhaps slightly more foreigners who are unusually intrigued by Canada. Less than half of those will vote for this article. Less than half of those will comment.
Cause and effect is a tricky thing, but without going into a dissertation of why things are the way they are, it is clear that there is a stratification of our nation. Some log on, work, browse, and log off. Some do more. Some do still more. Some do much more. Some are always doing something.
Taxes in modern eCanada are, for the most part, a redistribution of wealth. At present taxation values, we will receive $630,000 from taxes in the next 30 days, $150,000 of which will go to MPPs. MPPs are the only expenditure of taxes that go to the benefit of all Canadian citizens. The rest go from the many to the few.
Most of these few are organized into the two major military organizations of Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces and The Crimson Order. Most of the members of these organizations have profited from their combined personal activity and affiliation with these organizations. Disregarding anomalous gold buyers , these members, who have traded an increased activity in eCanada for supplies, have increased in rank faster than counterparts outside of the military complex.
This has resulted in an increased gap between the connected and the non-connecte
😛Those with more strength, with more rank, with more damage on the battlefield are overwhelmingly members of these organizations. A quick perusal of any of these statistics and the top Canadians in each will confirm this reality.
To go back to the statistics mentioned at the top of this article, of the 547 Canadians who have fought every day on average in the last three days it is safe to presume that around 291 (53
😵of them were involved in a government sponsored unit and that a significant number of those received government funding to fight.
There are 1,781 citizens of Canada, though less than this number work every day – likely around the number of people who vote in Congressional or Presidential elections (upper 600s). Of these not all fight. Of those that fight, around half are involved in organized military units. Of those that are involved in organized military units, a significant amount are funded daily to do so. Of those that are involved and funded, they have a significant likelihood of being better ranked and having higher strength.
This is one component of why we tax the many for the few: Because we are likely to receive much more damage output on the field than if we did not tax.
Taxes and Tactics
Military strategy in erepublik, and influencing battles in erepublik, is based on the ability of concentrating large amounts of damage output in an organized fashion. This is done in many ways.
The first is by asking civilian populations to fight in a selected Campaign of the Day. As we have been able to gather, this will reach a maximum of 550 or so Canadians in a day, when it is activated.
The second is by the creation of media articles alerting Canadians to selected battles that may differ from the Campaign of the Day or may require movement. If we were to use my newspaper as an example (4th in Canada) this will reach around 200 Canadians over a 2 day period.
The third is by mass forum PM, following the same formula as the second method, though is more of a reinforcement of intentions for people who are already active (forumers).
The fourth is by shouting orders, which is limited only to the friends of the shouter.
The final method, and the method that is most widely used and most widely successful, is coordination of military units. Depending on the organizational prowess of the unit, this will reach the 291 daily fighters who are statistically more likely to produce damage.
Let’s talk about the method by which governments determine military targets for a moment, to place the last bit into context. The President, or his designate, receive a list of priorities from the alliances that Canada belong to. From there, the President or his designate, determine the goals of the five methods I have just described. This information is then passed along one or all of those five channels.
The difference between the final method and the first four is critical. Because military units require some sort of activity and some sort of organizational capacity, they are usually the home of those who are active in the game as opposed to those who do not vote in elections and do not fight (the vast majority of our population). These people, organized as they are, can react quicker to the tactical situation than can people who are only logged in once a day, or only fight once a day. Canada’s funding formula in fact recognizes that reality, by placing a greater emphasis (double) on organizations that can be relied upon to create damage output at a specific place and a specific time. Compare the efforts of those outside military organizations as scattershot with varying degrees of success to the precision afforded by a military unit like the CAF or TCO.
Because of nature of the erepublik battle system, a country that is fighting a war must be able to create damage at a specific time and place to win the 8 mini battles in a regional campaign. This creates a premium placed on organizations that can provide significant damage output at those times and places and de-emphasizes the less precise actions of the larger citizenry.
This is the second component of why we tax the many for the benefit of the few: Because the actors of the larger citizenry include those who are not going to fight, include those who have no access or ability to fight where it is needed and when it is needed, and are statistically likely to include those more of those who are not high in rank or strength, wealth distribution exists.
Peacetime VS Wartime
This may be misleading, but by wartime I mean times when Canadian regions are under threat of being conquered and thus decreasing our economic resource efficiency.
During times of peace, this wealth distribution is not as necessary. Taxes fall and economic efficiency is high and the generally laissez faire complexion of Canada reigns. Aside from MPPs and funding to help allies with the aforementioned precision of our more significant and organized military members, wealth distribution can be seen as the exploitation of the inactive for the sake of the active. This is why over the course of Canada’s life, many programs have been created to rescue inactive members of our society and to make them active with varying results.
In wartime, however, it is to no one’s benefit, not the larger citizenry nor the military members, for us to lose regions. Much as income tax hits all Canadians equally, so too does the loss of a resource. Putting aside secondary concerns such as morale and ability to support allies, it is always in Canada’s best interest to gain and retain as many resources as we can within the greater geopolitical situation. With that in mind, in wartime this wealth redistribution increases. We all contribute to the most efficient means available to increase the productivity of all.
Conclusion
Much of the debate that is seen in Congress and in comments is about two competing ideals: Efficiency and Fairness. The reason that I advocate an increase in the income tax in wartime and not in peacetime is directly correlated to this debate.
In wartime, I seek to achieve the most efficient means possible to produce directed damage output. The most efficient means to do so is to fund the high strength, high rank, active members of the population, most of whom are members of Military Units. The most efficient means of doing that is income tax, as it effects all Canadians who work. It taxes all 700 active Canadians a day to provide for the 291 Canadians who fight, and specifically more to the Canadians who can fight as needed in our tactical situation.
I have said it before; the income tax is not fair. It hits the less active and provides them with no tangible benefit. It does, however, provide them with an increased likelihood of the defence of a currently held region or the taking of an enemy held region which directly affects them every time they work in their 4 (or more) companies, none of which fall victim to that tax.
Raising the VAT is an inelegant and inefficient means of creating damage efficiency. The VAT does not affect those who do not fight and disproportionately affects those who fight a lot. Taxing the active to pay the active is not a holistic solution.
Because the income tax is not fair, it is odious to use in peacetime.
Because the income tax is not fair, it is the best means to fight in wartime.
Because those who are active are those who have been funded and are funded, they are more likely to have higher strengths and ranks, which make them more efficient fighters.
Because the game’s war module demands efficiency in fighting, it rewards governments who take from the inactive to give to the active.
That’s the philosophy of wealth distribution in eCanada.
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o7
:3
Communiste, mais intéressant comme analyse.
I started to read when, suddenly, I was at the bottom of the page. Not quite Trevelyan but, still, the sweet mellifluous flow of rational argument, uninterrupted by pictures. A treat. Maybe you still have some leadership to offer?
Sigh.
Income tax is so pathetic, why write such a wall of text for nothing.
2400 health is equal to 240 clicks, only one of them is a work click that generates income tax revenue. Income tax targets one of 240 clicks, MAXIMUM. Why forsake the other 239 clicks?
VAT is where its at.
This is why Jacobi is God Emperor of Canada
Read it and weep naysayers
(Jacobi, can you write a shorter version in simple talk for people like Etemenanki who don't quite understand the complex tax numbers in the game?)
@ Addy - In terms of REVENUE, Yes VAT is where it's at...but
You got to tax the inactives somehow. I say a 50% income tax, the inactive 2 click mofo's can pay their tax and log off for the day. We can then fund the people that give a crap on the inactives dime
Simple and Clear, I don't get why there are so many apologists for those that do not really give a crap and will be a zombie in a week...
@Canada's greatest thief
Les joueurs moins actifs ou moins intéressés par les combats sont libres de changer de pays si le gouvernement abuse de ses pouvoir de taxation.
😁
English Please
The UN lost it's influence a long, long time ago....
Je propose de baisser toutes les taxes à zéros et que Rolo rembourse les milliers de golds qu'il a volé au eCanada!
A bit wordy (to my taste), but it's a philosophy I agree with.
I wouldn't even say income tax is unfair.
oddly enough,I agree with Rolo to a degree.
Raise the VAT and Income Tax.
agreed o7
addy: i don't understand your 240 clicks stuff. I may fight 239 times but that isn't a financial transaction which results in tax revenue. If i click only once to buy 150 weapons that single click is important because of the size of the transaction. Surely, it is the number of dollars transacted which is important, not the number of clicks. Especially if i do it often. In short, how is the number of clicks relevant to this discussion?
It may be that VAT will raise more money. Jacobi's point about that is simple. He suggests VAT tends to take from the same active group you then give to. Which is not to say it shouldn't have pride of place. Just that income taxes are not to be dismissed out of hand.
Each tank has a sum value of 5 clicks
the value, divided by 5 gives you a per click cost of that tank. Since VAT is based on the cost of goods, Addy is saying that each "click" represents a defacto taxation via the VAT tax. The same argument can be said for food
Fact is our Tax policy should be based on taxing the hell out of people, both VAT and Income in peacetime and building a warchest of funds ready for distribution in wartime (Like Now)
Remember when all the whiners were complaining about the Million CAD in the treasury way back when? - Seems it actually wasn't really enough, but it did come in handy vs Sweden when a certain CP Exec Ordered Emergency Funding that lead to their prompt removal....
An ancillary point about VAT: it is a means to tax wealth instead of income. Addy will explain the connection to the velocity of money. 🙂
rolo: i appreciate what you have said. Nevertheless it seems obvious that addy was using the 240 number simply because it is bigger that 1, and is therefore impressive by comparison. Fact is that if a very active player fights 238 times, he will probably click once to replenish his weapons supply. But then that 1 isn't as impressive when compared to the 1 click to work. Point is the number of clicks is irrelevant. The amount and velocity of transactions is relevant. Also, who you get money from and who you give it to.
I can't help saying that, in your case, you got the money from us and gave it to yourself. So, I understand perfectly how consistent you are: tax the hell out of us.
"Fact is our Tax policy should be based on taxing the hell out of people, both VAT and Income in peacetime and building a warchest of funds ready for distribution in wartime (Like Now)"
I couldn't disagree more. We will NEVER EVER EVER compete with the larger nations in erepublik so long as we sit at ~600 active citizens. Taxing the hell out of them won't make a lick of difference, and will only serve to ostracize our already dwindling population.
Even a country that is comparable to us (UK) is able to defeat us in battle due to their MPP's. Having 1,000,000 CAD would not help us.
For heaven's sake Rolo, weren't you the one arguing against having patronage BS like the CAF and the "old boys club"???
Not to mention, your "severance package" (as Jacobi once put it) still wouldn't be enough to dig us out of Poland's grasp.
I don't think Jacobi is saying Income in stead of VAT, he is saying Income in addition to VAT
Yes, VAT is a money maker, don't REDUCE it, but there is some easy cash to be had in the form of income tax from 2 click douchewagons that it sitting there for the taking
so, hurry up and take it...
As I proposed, idealy income tax and VAT increases would best serve the nation, we needs funds to do something.
As Pimp would say, the "spare the income tax" talk is a protectionist ideal, and those who manager/work and work a job are looking to keep their extra income.
Either way we can only do what the masses will allow and let them know later on that we were right.
I argue against Military Funding in peacetime and argued against it when it was CAF or nothing in terms of military funding,
Now that we have a fair and balance MU funding model, whether it results in wins on the battlefield, at least we are funding our MU's to maximum capacity with otherwise meaningless tax dollars
So many players come and go in this game, we ought to pick their pockets on the way through if we can. If they stick around and fight in an MU, they'll get their money back and then some..
Thanks for the explanation Jacobi. I hope to have more to contribute tomorrow.
As for picking people's pockets and then repaying those people with a just reward for continued service to eCanada, it's been nearly a year Rolo...what kind of marathon do you want us to run to prove we aren't all quitting ffs.
😁 Well played, Plugson, Well Played
That money would have been well wasted long ago. You should be grateful I still have some to continue the good fight against our aggressors
yawn.
Taxes should be adjusted to 6% and 15% VAT, it necessarily. In a week and the market will adjust, and then will not feel any loss in our pockets. I saw that our enemies have increased taxes even if they have many areas with bonus!
It's easier to fight when you got some money left to buy food.
ANd it's not new that at some pooint increase in tax = less revenue
Looks like you consider tanks and food comes by magic. People need money to invest to create them.
Ahhh... the good old times... when the Merchantman had 20 times more votes, than now... And the comment section was filled with comments that actually make some sense...
well, now that i have understood your philosophical approach, only one last thing: the numbers.
How many people work? about how much do they make and what will the total income tax receipt amount to?
Is it something like 900 workers x 100 dollars x .06 %rate = $5,400/day = $162,000/month ?
I`m not sure how many Q1-Q4 weapons are being produced compared to the Q5 weapons, but they are still being bought, and they have an impact.
You can't use 240 "clicks" and divide that by 5 shots per tank because even if the same amount of "clicks" is spent with different kinds of weapons, the cost of each weapon isn't constant with the number of shots you can get from it.
Thought I'd do a quick run-down of each section
Taxes and Engagement:
Yup, the less active or less involved do get taxed to support the more engaged and better connected players. I do believe this increases eCanada's military strength. In the past, the stratification between actives and inactives was less while the disparity in funding benefits was greater (ie. it was hard to get supplies unless you belonged to a CAF platoon, and then the elites got more, too). I'm happy to see that there has been more of a leveling off in the last couple years to make it possible for more eCanadians to have access to funding at varying activity rates.
Taxes and Tactics
This is the one I'd like to better understand. I assume targeting funding at specific battles to have coordinated/timed attacks is the real aim of increased taxes. As olivermellors says, some numbers would be helpful here to demonstrate how much more influnce would be available with a 10% increase in funding, or 25%-50%. It's an area of fuzzy calculations, I'd suppose, since there is so much to factor in. Is there a general formula that indicates how X (tax dollars) given to Y (military unit(s)) = Z (increased influence ouput)?
Peacetime VS Wartime
Different tax schemes according to war makes sense to me. Let's be prepared to have an exit strategy out of this increased taxation and an understanding from the MUs that funding will be reduced after the war is over. It's difficult determining when a war is done since there are constant battles here. At some point a Congressmen will just have to stand up and say, "We don't need to be spending this much on funding now. Let's reduce taxes."
As for 240 clicks, yeah that is a bigger number but each click to work or fight does consume food/guns. 'Clicking' is consuming and consumption is what we should be taxing (ie. there is only one click availalbe to work for an income, but many more available chances to consume).
When i click to fight i consume the food that I made myself when clicking on my own companies and factories. There is no financial transaction to tax. It is transactions which are taxe😛 purchases and wage receipts. Be careful about the false comparison between 240 clicks vs. 1. "Clicks" do not map onto "purchases". There are some other false equivalencies that muddy the waters as well. Leave that to another time. A short post will follow about some approaches to the issue of "net influence".
How about: "There are more purchases being made each day on the market than there is taxable work being done." People who consume only the food/guns they produce provide nothing to the tax base, especially if working in a slavepit (as many active players do).
However, many of active playes will top up on food or guns from time to time. Someone also has to buy all that excess product these working-managers manufacture. Don't forget we can tax the market bots.
So would the 'clickers' provide more tax revenue from the salary they earn or from the products they purchase? We can be fairly certain that the elite players out there would generate more tax revenue on the VAT rather than on their income tax.
hmmm.. i had posted an apparently now gone note about "net influence". The short version-
income tax appears to yield greater net influence. Vat almost certainly yields less net influence. Consequence: the more VAT you take in the less influence you are dealing.
HOWEVER ... this holds true for the present. VAT trades off a loss of present influence in return for a promise of greater future influence through the cultivation of activity, increased rate of rank/strength gain. Whether the possibility of future gains materializes is dependent on management of the funds received through the VAT.
Canada's greatest thief (aka Rolo Tahmasee) wrote :
"Fact is our Tax policy should be based on taxing the hell out of people, both VAT and Income in peacetime and building a warchest of funds ready for distribution in wartime"
SpockPQ :
C'est un peu hallucinant d'apprendre que le type qui nous a volé une cagnotte de milliers de golds économisés pour notre défense nous recommande maintenant de taxer cette population à mort afin d'accumuler un nouveau "warchest".
money is needed to get more active, especially if you're trying to build companies.
Great article. Income tax AND VAT need to be raised.
lets set them at 99% and damn well fund the active players....... Or whatever lol
20% VAT prpoposal on Food and Weapons is up.
Also, I think 25% is the max...which they should raise in order to meet our funding rate/debt ceiling...yo.
great, now it'll be even more difficult to gain access to tanks and food. That will help eCanada regain it's regions.
-facepalm
If it pass I'll have no hope left. Please don't.
I think what I like best about this article, is that thus far, neither the author nor the posters have realized that VAT taxes the SELLER, not the BUYER. That's how all those working managers, that sell their produce on the market, contribute to the country's coffers.
Goran Thrax
goran: congratulations on two lucid posts in congress.
Sellers contribute more if they increase their prices? 🙂 Yes, more VAT would be collected. Fewer products would be sold. But then the VAT collected would be used to buy product. From the same sellers. Who themselves use their profits to buy... etc etc.
Money circulates and flows. The faster it moves, the greater the battle influence. That is the velocity piece.
Money sitting idle mitigates battle influence. It may sit idly in a player's bank account, or be waiting in treasury or in an MU. We encourage the movement of money by essentially saying "go ahead and spend, you'll get it right back". Works well in "war time" if the VAT rate is set correctly. But it is not persuasive for the fellow who is "inactive" and draws a wage. He will want to accumulate idle money. Income tax has the effect of putting some of that money to work. It is a small daily amount compared to the VAT, but the effect is magnified in two ways. It moves money from idle to effective; it moves recursively.
As you have pointed out, however, these effects are as nothing if players leave the game/country because of the tax policy. Employers have a stake in this. They will tend to set wages so as to keep a workforce. If you think this through you come to the conclusion that there is an optimum level of income tax tied to players' savings expectations. I tend to think we aren't there yet, and that 6% income tax is workable. I respect the opposite view.
The notion that VAT taxes the seller is simply optics. Since the VAT is already worked into the selling price, it is really no different than sales tax, which is a CONSUMER TAX
A loaf of bread that sells for $1 and has a 10% SALES TAX costs me $1.10 when I get to the counter, $1 to the business, 10 cents to the taxman - The CONSUMER pays the TAX
The same loaf with a VAT tax has a shelf price of $1.10, but $1 still goes to the business ans 10 cents still goes to the taxman
Same difference, Simply Optics
speaking of the difference between buyers and sellers....
We have been focussing on the 20% VAT that goes to the government. What happens to the 80% remainder? Presumably it isn't used to buy guns/food. Working capital? or idle?
second, related question: when we give MUs tax revenue, are we increasing "its" working capital/wealth/assets? - which may be a good thing btw
A big part of tax policy should be about building the human and industrial capital which gives a fighting force leverage. Is there reluctance to talk openly because of fear that some players are getting "rich" at taxpayer's expense?
For instance, I like the idea of giving HOPEII a greater share than might be justified by its present membership and influence capacity. Jacobi can grow it. We get a good ROI.
I buy my own tanks.
I do too, and my own food.
Buying food and tanks is no longer a very good idea. You should be saving your cash towards building companies that make your own food and (eventually...1 year?) tanks.
Why should you spend your money (taxed 6%-10😵 on stuff that is being taxed 20% so that you can help fund more senior and active players who have more strength and will do more damage anyhow. Conserve what you have and invest it in the long run; your absence on the battlefield will hardly be noticed, Nadaelz. Plus join a military group that will give you some of the guns/food that you are currently buying.
Brilliant article.