Hardly. If the alcohol tax on a bottle of wine is €5 and the bottle is sold for €10, that’s a pretty steep price. If the bottle is sold for €100 or even more, it’s nothing.
But I understand that you were probably thinking about companies calculating spending & sales.
What? Tax is not a punishment. If a company finds that they can poison the environment and release PFAS into a local stream, but that they will be charged $12000 if they’re caught, then all they have learned is that, for the potential price of $12000, they can purchase the right to not have to follow environmental regulation (and they’ll only have to pay it if they’re caught!)
Also why fines should always be based on income. A static, $100€ speeding ticket can only keep the poorest in order
Indeed. If the punishment for a crime is a flat fine, then, to the rich, it is not a punishment, but a price
Hardly. If the alcohol tax on a bottle of wine is €5 and the bottle is sold for €10, that’s a pretty steep price. If the bottle is sold for €100 or even more, it’s nothing.
But I understand that you were probably thinking about companies calculating spending & sales.
What? Tax is not a punishment. If a company finds that they can poison the environment and release PFAS into a local stream, but that they will be charged $12000 if they’re caught, then all they have learned is that, for the potential price of $12000, they can purchase the right to not have to follow environmental regulation (and they’ll only have to pay it if they’re caught!)
Are you replying to the wrong person? I specifically pointed out that they were thinking about something else.
Even the countries that do this employ all sorts of edge case rules not to make it too fair.
Well, at least my country does. One of those famous Northern European “Socialist” countries.