From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 03:57:03 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Taxes in the digicash world
Message-ID: <199607301610.JAA04666@mail.pacifier.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 06:17 AM 7/30/96 -0500, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
>Hi
>
>Suppose that digital cash becomes easy enough to use and becomes the
>mainstream medium in most [or at least many] economic transactions.
>
>The question is, how can the government TECHNICALLY collect taxes?
>I do not mean to start `libertarianism vs. socialism' discussion, I
>am more interested in the technical aspects of tax collection when
>transfers of money are protected by strong crypto..
>
>Let's say, maybe this tax would work: every time someone verifies that
>a piece of digital cash is valid, s/he has to pay the government a little
>percentage of the amount. Since digital banks are easier to control than
>other participants of the market, this kind of tax legislation is easier to
>enforce.

If, for every $1 somebody paid in taxes, he instead (or, in addition to) 
paid 10 cents to a fund to eliminate the tax collectors, at the end of that 
year he wouldn't be paying any taxes anymore.  That's why AP will work so well.


Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com