Taxes are like poison. Taking a lot is fatal, but exposure to small quantities only moderately harms health. The best way for a government to tax, therefore, is for it to spread around its tax poison broadly so no entity must consume too much of it. If Massachusetts is determined to collect a certain amount of taxes from organizations (such as corporations), then it will do less harm if it forces all organizations to pay a little than if it mandates that a subset pay a lot.What's Professor Miller talking about? Why Massachusetts Should Tax Harvard. Apparently others share my biases. In his article Miller asks, why couldn't Microsoft make the same demand for a tax exemption that Harvard and other elite schools have made? And he's right.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
"Taxes are like poison."
I never thought I'd read the above phrase in Inside Higher Ed, in a column written by an economics professor from Smith College. But there it is, and here is the rest of the paragraph:
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Recognizing that it's inefficient for governments to tax savings, Miller doesn't really want to tax Harvard's endowment. He says he wants to slap Massachusetts sales tax on Harvard's tuition.
We residents of tax-free New Hampshire think that's a bully idea. Harvard's New Hampshire branch would be up and rolling within a decade!
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