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Real tax reform: a love letter to Ken Henry

By John Passant - posted Monday, 7 December 2009


The permanent arms economy after World War II slowed down the capital accumulation process and ensured a boom of sorts across the developed world (in conjunction with the rebuilding of capital destroyed by the war) for the longest period in recorded capitalist history.

But I digress.

Current capitalist tax debates among the bourgeoisie and their academics are often framed in terms of capital import neutrality, capital export neutrality or national neutrality.

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My memory is that you favour national neutrality (and thus for example support or did support dividend imputation applying only to Australian sourced income and Australian resident share holders.)

But of course these concepts arise from the internationalisation of the Australian economy and reinforce the current class divisions in society. They are essentially debates over some of the rules of the game rather than the game itself.

Let’s look at the whole question of taxation under the present system through the prism of class; not through the eyes of the ruling class but those of the working class.

I accept that socialist revolution - the democratic control of the means of production so that production occurs to satisfy human need, not to make a profit - is not about to sweep Australia.

Things can change rapidly but at the moment the wage slave system will continue into the foreseeable future.

Therefore my proposals relate to the tax system as it is, but from a perspective that recognises that within the exploitative relationship there is a need to understand and recognise that labour creates all the wealth of society in the productive sector.

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For that reason taxation should fall lightly on the labour of workers (if at all) and heavily on capital and the income of capital and their managers.

I also understand capitalism as a dynamic system, one in which taxing capital produces or is likely to produce certain responses. I have strategies for addressing that.

But by imposing taxes on capital we can help begin the revolutionary process that leads to a society free of classes where individual liberty and freedom can at last begin to flourish.

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First published in the author's blog, En Passant, on April 26, 2009



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About the Author

John Passant is a Canberra writer (www.enpassant.com.au) and member of Socialist Alternative.

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