Politician Archive
Thread: Sales Tax bugged?
It does work in one situation - Offering to a vendor, then the extra money does go into the city treasury. Otherwise it's as if that stim was put up for 105c instead of 100c...
That is disturbing - I was under the impression that many cities did well for themselves implementing a Sales Tax. If it really does prove to be bugged, then taxes in general should perhaps be the focus of our next top 5 submission.
Here is a cut an paste of a post I put in the weekly Politician thread, or at least the part relating to taxes. I put it here for your consideration and to add to this particular conversation.
...I logged in after my election to find that the town's Citizen taxes had not been paid by a large number of players, which resulted in the destruction of all of the city's decorations and the removal of the skill trainers, as well as reducing all of the civic buildings except the City Hall down to 70% condition. I should have monitored the funds better - even so, I am frustrated that I may have to institue a Sales Tax because players are optioning out of paying the Citizen Tax. Moreover, I'm having difficulty locating documentation on how those buildings can be brought back to full condition. I have replaced the skill trainers and the mission terminals, but I still have the nagging problem of the taxes in town.
I've been kicking a few thoughts on taxes around in my head for weeks now, and given current events in my little corner of Talus I will spill them out here.
The tax system as currently implemented appears to be constructed in such a way that no one tax is really enough to pay for the town, with the possible exception of a hefty sales tax. This may be by design to place Politicians in the position of having to enact multiple taxes, though to what end this serves game play I do not know. The citizen tax caps out at 2000cr - about half of what would be required for each citizen to make a fair and equal contribution to the city. The structure tax is likewise insufficient to match the demands of maintenance of the city, and has the additional risk of leaving the homes of casual players at risk of being destroyed due to maintenance money being removed at a faster than expected rate. The shuttle tax is bugged, but even if it did work setting it high enough to essentially pay for itself would be impossible without exceeding the cost of starport tickets off planet.
Which leaves us with the Sales Tax, and all of its issues and implications. This tax is capable of generating considerable revenue in many cities, and at a cost to those purchasing goods... which is all good on the surface. The downside is that there are inherent issues to attracting customers to go to any planet other than the core three - they need to pay more (and more importantly to the wealthier players, spend time) to travel out to our location. Making our goods more expensive further detracts from the appeal of traveling to our city to purchase those goods. This leaves crafters in the position of lowering their prices so as to remain competitive with core world markets.
All of the above can be rationalized though,provided it is for the common good.What I am having problems rationalizing is the idea that a few players are shouldering the weight of the economic responsibilites of the whole city. My original intent was to create equal, fair, and equitable taxes for the population. A flat tax across the board seemed to be the best way, as you would just take the sum of the city maintenance and divide it equally among the residents (perhaps with a bit extra to cover non-contributions by inactive players). Now I am left with thepossibility that with aSales Taxthat some of the wealthiest players (such as die hard hunters and miners, who make up a large portion of the population) are going to get by with paying 2000cr each, while the folks with vendors (some wealthy, but many struggling to get their businesses off the ground, and in the minority) are having to reduce their profitability to remain competitive with core world vendors. All the while the crafters know that some folks just will not make the trip to Talus even when they have better products at lower prices.
I myself have a hybrid crafting/combat character, and I have a perspective that allows me to see both ends of this issue. There is a perception that those with vendors make a load of cash for little work. There is the other perception that those folks who are selling 8k units of hide at 8cr per unit by hawking at starports (or any number of other harvesting examples) are making a killing without being taxed accordingly. The simplest way to resolve this is an equitable flat tax that can meet the needs of the city on its own, or failing that an income tax designed on a curve (similar to what we have in the USA).
Is anyone else perceiving this as an issue, or am I unjustified in thinking each citizen should pay an equal share?
- Acroyear
I would just as soon like to see the income tax raised to 5k
I mean it's the only option that can be perfectly calculated with ease and we even get messages if someone can't pay (usually those who have left the game but their houses are still there)
Those cities that have citizens who can't afford the 5k can help them out individually on a case by case basis if they wish.
I know my city can't afford the maintenance it has to pay every week and I'd prefer not to have to rely on donations. A city shouldn't have to.
We only have a shuttleport, bank, a few trainers, about 5 streetlamps and over 70 citizens and can't even pay for that!
That seems a bit crazy if you ask me.
By the way if you're part of a roleplaying guild (rebel preferred) and on the Gorath server and would like a city to live in send Acantho some mail and we can discuss the possibilities. We always love more people. Our city is always active
