I don't believe wealthy people have a responsibility to me so I'd say whatever rate my rate is. On the flip side though, I feel like in Europe, the royal families should pay 95-99%. If they think they were divinely appointed to be kings and queens, then they have a divine right to take care of their citizens. These people are not ceremonial; that is a deception.
They are already paid with tax payers money, and frankly most britians don't mind paying the 2 pounds per year for the entertainment value of what comes of the monarch.
I fail to see how entertainment is some government provided right or why money should be taking from working people for entertainment they might not even want. If you argue it's tradition, then you might as well argue that looting from peasants and waging wars of conquest are tradition and just be open about wanting tyranny. People take such a lax attitude towards taxes. It's not 2 lbs -- it's something that represents someone's labor, force exerted by an individual over time they can never ever get back, carelessly redistributed ... for entertainment? Why can't the individual make their own entertainment choices?
The optimum tax rate for income would be 0 for everyone. Why would you want to discourage people from earning money or investing? There should only be a tax on consumption. The wealth of a country can never grow in a country if everyone consumes too much. That's why the Western World is losing in an economic war with China. Everyone is always crying the blues that China manipulates their currency. There's a simple solution. If China undervalues their currency, just stop buying all their consumer goods and use your dollars to buy up all their land and equities at a discount. There wouldn't be any consumption tax on essentials such as rent and food. Therefore the poor, who spend most of their income on essentials would pay less. Canada has a consumption tax. This is part of the reason why their economy is faring better right now. They still have an income tax though. Too bad they didn't have enough sense to go all the way with a consumption tax.
How about www.landvaluetax.org no taxes on income or consumption just the value of property? very difficult to evade.
The "consumer-driven" economy is near its end. And we're already in a borderline depression. Better to suffer pain now than continue this until we're worse than Greece (we already are in some ways).
horrible idea. a recipe for land confiscation from the poorest people. you can work your whole life paying for a piece of property that you can live out your final days on and if you become unable to generate enough income to pay the tax you lose your living quarters and are kicked out in the street.
You can downsize, letting younger people with children live in the big houses instead of having a widow rattling round in a family home.
the fairest and most moral tax is an income tax. nobody has to pay unless and until they generate excess income.