No Progressive Taxation Without Discrimination?

Melkevik, Åsbjørn

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-37908-7_6

Åsbjørn Melkevik⁴

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism ((PASTCL))

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Abstract

Any liberal theory that would take seriously the question of equality before the law is bound to engage with discrimination-related matters, and so long as one is a liberal, one should oppose all discrimination coming from the state. This, however, may be a double-edged sword since many classical liberals have quite readily opposed progressive taxation by invoking its discriminatory nature. Some liberals conclude that one cannot establish different tax brackets, lest taxation be illiberal. This chapter refutes this assumption. Progression is compatible with the classical liberal concern for the rule of law, provided legislative discretion on tax-related matters is duly limited by the principle of generality and by a certain standard of reasonable lawmaking.

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Notes

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58.
M. Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago, U. of Chicago Press, 2002, pp. 191–194.

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University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Åsbjørn Melkevik

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Melkevik, Å. (2020). No Progressive Taxation Without Discrimination?. In: If You’re a Classical Liberal, How Come You’re Also an Egalitarian?. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37908-7_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37908-7_6
Published: 29 March 2020
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37907-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37908-7
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