LC 2.28 Resolution to Establish the Budget of the Lincoln Government (Debating)

[PSOL]

Aye, overall this is a solid bill that protects the little majority of Atlasia. My one gripe is the gas tax not structured to be more progressive, so as to ensure that the payments are fair. I will ensure a bill to correct this mistake later on.

[PSOL]

Amendment

PROPOSED TAXES

Excise Taxes
Gas:
Lowest 20% earners-5¢/g
Second lowest 20%- 15¢/g
Mid 40%-60%- 30¢/g
60-80%- 40¢/g
Upper 20%- 60¢/g


 
Diesel:
Lowest 20% earners-20¢/g
Second lowest 20%- 30¢/g
Mid 40%-60%- 50¢/g
60-80%- 60¢/g
Upper 20%- 75¢/g

Section II: Identification

1. For future purposes involving sales taxes, the Region of Lincoln will incorporate income into a form of identification
   a. Only applicable to gas and diesel taxes at this time
   b. Identification will be free and given and distributed at a local post office
   c. Information must be automatically changed after the annual time of tax filings

The following friendly amendment not only prevents a regressive taxation scheme that plagued the tax system of France—ultimately leading to the yellow vests—it also brings in more revenue to the Lincoln budget. I am free to talk about specifics and other questions at this time.

[PSOL]

WTF no this is just way too much government intrusion for the sake of income taxation with regards to gasoline. How is a rich person using a gallon of gasoline more polluting than a poor person using a gallon of gasoline?.

The effect of setting a flat rate is going to have a muter reaction the more wealthy an individual is. 30¢ means more to a person on food stamps than a multimillionaire, and having such disparities unchecked is having a De Jure regressive position. On another front, we’ve seen that wealthier individuals mostly have less qualms about using their own personal vehicles than poorer residents using public transportation.

I favor gas and diesel taxes, but not the income, is the person who puts gasoline in your car, supposed to ask you for your income, or if you don’t live in NJ, is the credit card thing on the gasoline “holder”, supposed to ask for your income, and how do you verify that, are you supposed to carry around pay stubs. How does this identification system  even work, as it is, this is too vague, and may lead to the above scenario. If all of that doesn’t happen, I agree with Coucnilor Lfromnj that having gas taxes as income taxes, makes no sense

There will be a given, free-of-charge marking on a special I.D. whose whole purpose is to purchase these fuels. A similar model of identification exists in the transportation cards for a metro in any large city, ultimately the ease of carrying it around outweighs carrying cash. Furthermore, the card is renewed annually after each filing of tax reports and is automatically updated in tandem annually, so that should ease some of these concerns.

Also, I have a few questions about the proposal:
1) How does this affect vehicles that are owned by businesses rather than individuals?
2) Are we talking per capita income or household income here? If a married couple consists of one person who works and one who doesn't, can the person who works take the other's ID card to bypass a higher tax rate?
3) Tying into 2), how is the ID verified at self-service pumps where paying at the register isn't necessary?
4) Is this identification requirement intended to go into effect immediately upon passage of the FY2019 budget?
5) If someone is unaware of the new law and goes to buy gas, will he/she be unable to do so?

1.Currently nowhere in the Amendment deals with business transportation
2.It would be based on household income
3. All of our pumps have slots to pay with a card. Such an I.D. would work similar to a debit card, in which you put money into the account. With regards to checking income, an individual can check online to verify their status, changed annually with each tax filing.
4. No, after careful review it seems that there must be a transition period for easing into it. It would make sense to have it go into effect April 15th, 2021
5. The specifics of the law would obviously attract publicity on its own right, but there would be attempts to reach out to the public on the needed steps and specifics.

After careful consideration, I am withdrawing this amendment for a later period so as to fix

[PSOL]

Amendment

PROPOSED TAXES ON PERSONAL TRAVEL

Excise Taxes
Gas:
Lowest 20% earners-5¢/g
Second lowest 20%- 15¢/g
Mid 40%-60%- 30¢/g
60-80%- 40¢/g
Upper 20%- 60¢/g


 
Diesel:
Lowest 20% earners-20¢/g
Second lowest 20%- 30¢/g
Mid 40%-60%- 50¢/g
60-80%- 60¢/g
Upper 20%- 75¢/g

Section II: Identification

1. For future purposes involving personal transportation with the diesel and gas taxes, the Region of Lincoln will incorporate household income into a form of a card with specific identification
   a. Only applicable to gas and diesel taxes at this time
   b. Identification will be free and given and distributed at a local post office
       I. To all members of the household requesting one
       II. Failure to comply to paying for the correct tax brackets will lend a fee worth 15% of missed
            taxes expected
           1. Must be payed after each fiscal quarter
   c. Information must be automatically changed after the annual time of tax filings
   d. The card allows for the scanning of what exactly must be paid at the pump
   

Section III: Awareness

1. For the purposes of informing residents, the government of Lincoln will inform awareness of these changes in the following way
    a. Have all the personal transportation taxes be printed on an appropriate section of the official
        driver’s almanac of the respective areas of Lincoln, if such inter-regional deviations in the official
        almanac exists
     b. Have an official press interview for specifically informing the public of the nuances of the law.

Section IIII: Implementation Date

1. The following Amendment will be implemented later of the law as a whole
    a. The transition period ends at 05/15/2021.

The new changes to the amendment addresses concerns made by fellow legislators, and the GM, in several deficiencies in clarification. The changes provide a transition period, clarification on the passing of identification, and what specifically are the taxes targeting. On the last point, the changes made stress that only personal consumption is changed; taxes on public or private transportation, Work done in an employee vehicle, or anything of the sort is unaffected and remains at the previous set rate.

With these current changes, are there any questions and concerns about these changes or the amendment at-large that I have not addressed or have in an unsatisfactory fashion?

[PSOL]

While a worthwhile idea to discuss, this would probably be better as a separate piece of legislation rather than as part of the budget.

Fine, I hereby recant this amendment.