Fairness as a Principle of Taxation...

Karl Marx is attributed to have said, “…from each according to one’s capability, to each according to one’s need,” maybe without actually bearing in mind the principles of finance or specifically taxation.  But the famed saying may describe what most economists nowadays believe about the principle of fairness of a good tax system – the burden of tax must be according to people’s ability to pay and based on whether people are involved in availing of public goods or otherwise. Ability to pay is a sub-principle in itself, which holds that tax must be measured...