United States of America/Tax Policy

Current

Product	Income Tax	Import Tax	VAT
30px	25%	15%	5%
30px	25%	15%	5%
		1%	10%
30px	25%	15%
	25%	15%
30px		1%	10%
30px		1%	1%
30px		1%	1%

Historical

The United States of America has constantly battled for an efficient tax system since the beginning of eRepublik. This is a living record of all tax plans, starting at the first organized effort in December of the CTPA.

Comprehensive Tax Policy Act

Discussion

The Comprehensive Tax Policy Act (CTPA) was headed by the works of congressmen Ananias (USWP), Tyrsis (Lib), Greystrand (USWP), Jewitt (UCP), and Publius (Lib). Future congressman One Eye (UCP) would also become known during the debate of this scheme's implementation. It was negotiated and argued during the 13th Congress of the United States and was finally put into effect by the 14th Congress of the United States.

The discussion began when Jewitt brought up the concept of creating a specific tax policy to ensure equal employment by making all the income taxes uniform. It was never intended to start an entire revision movement, but with Ananias's heading it soon swept the Floor of Congress into a full debate.

Most of the discussion had been lost when Teacher (ThisGenMedia/Franco) destroyed the eUS Forums on the 1st of February, 2009. There was strong opposition for many of its points, especially the raising income taxes to a flat 10%. The opposition, however, eventually died down and a full policy was drafted and passed.

Figures

Product	Income Tax	Import Tax	VAT
	10%	15%	5%
	10%	15%	5%
	10%	15%	5%
	10%	15%	5%
	10%	15%
	10%	1%
	10%	1%
	10%	15%
	10%	15%
	10%	5%	3%
	10%	1%	1%
	10%	1%	1%

Legalities

Tax Change: Food (Bill 2024) (Proposed by Jewitt)
Tax Change: Grain (Bill 2056) (Proposed by Greystrand)
Tax Change: House (Bill 2077) (Proposed by Ananias)
Tax Change: Wood (Bill 2106) (Proposed by Leroy Combs)
Tax Change: Weapon (Bill 2150) (Proposed by ProggyPop)
Tax Change: Gift (Bill 2173) (Proposed by iduffee12)
Tax Change: Moving Tickets (Bill 2207) (Proposed by Ian John Locke IV)
Tax Change: Hospital (Bill 2233) (Proposed by scrabman)
Tax Change: Oil (Bill 2269) (Proposed by Finbar Azulos)
Tax Change: Defense Systems (Bill 2297) (Proposed by Ananias)

It should be noted that Diamonds and Iron remained the same from their previous values.

Emergency Tax Policy (2/1/09)

Discussion

The Emergency Tax Policy was the U.S. Congress's official reaction to the moves made by Watcher in which hundreds of thousands of USD was released into the public domain leaving our nation poor and the economy near rapid inflation. The following article describes the actions well: "Exclusive: Congressional Response"

The discussion began when Jewitt (United Independents Party ) joined the Rizon IRC chat room and gathered six congressmen together and they began discussing a way to address the issue. By the end of the night of the 1st, the quick-acting moves ended in a Legislative Order which was the first of its kind. In less than eight hours an entirely new tax plan was developed to counter the issues which accompanied the Watcher Incident.

It would be criticized and many would claim "Taxation without Representation!" due to the meeting behind held behind closed doors where only two of those present were not Congressmen; the currently-acting Vice President PrincessMedyPi and Secretary of the State. Aside from these two exceptions, this "secret meeting" was criticized in the massed media soon thereafter but was eventually forgotten.

The implementation of the Emergency Tax Plan would be stopped by two rogue congressmen making tax change proposals (Ion Ion and Rob Lewis). This caused the Emergency Tax Plan to be completed four days after it was supposed to be finished. Luckily, the economy only took a small inflationary hit and little panic existed. It, overall, could be seen as a success and testament that the U.S. Congress could be decisive and efficient if need be.

Figures

Product	Income Tax	Import Tax	VAT
	20%	15%	15%
	20%	15%	15%
	10%	15%	5%
	10%	15%	5%
	20%	15%
	10%	1%
	10%	1%
	10%	15%
	20%	15%
	10%	5%	3%
	10%	1%	1%
	10%	1%	1%

Legalities

Tax Change: Food (Bill 2574) (Proposed by Nathan Woods)
Tax Change: Gift (Bill 2612) (Proposed by Ananias)
Tax Change: Wood (Bill 2693) (Proposed by Jewitt)

It should be noted that only four industries were altered in this Legislative Order. They were Food, Grain, Gifts, and Wood - in that order. The Tax Change Proposal on the eRepublik site for the Grain could not be found, but it was proposed and passed nonetheless.

The PANEC Taxes

Discussion

PANEC stands for the consensus made by Publius, Ananias, NoneSuch, and the Economic Council. It began when the Emergency Tax Plan was nearing the end of its life and the political opinion of the USA was shifting from a non-interventionist attitude to a "Win the Game" attitude, as attributed to statistician and then-Congressman One Eye (United Independents Party ). Due to the Watcher Incident, information on the CTPA's successes were minimal. The little bit of tracking down, however, showed that the CTPA barely generated enough revenue to pay the citizen fee and even one battle. Fueled by the wanting for success after Operation: French Toast, the discussion began in the Economic Council.

The original proposal was the first to use the term "across the board" which is now the set precedent for most tax discussion. In the original proposal, presented by the Economic Council (Which consisted of Publius, Jewitt, Pearlswine, and [Director] One Eye) to Congress, called for a 25% income tax "across the board" as well as a 1% VAT on all finished goods industries except weapons (Food, Gifts, Moving Ticket, Housing, Defense System, Hospital). In the proposal, Imports would had been looked at on an individual basis and weapon VAT would be set at 5%.

The discussion would be headed by then-Speaker of the House ProggyPop (USWP), Congressmen Ananias (USWP) and NoneSuch (United Independents Party ), and the four Economic Council members (Publius (Lib), Jewitt (United Independents Party) , Pearlswine, One Eye (United Independents Party).

Figures

Product	Income Tax	Import Tax	VAT
	20%	25%	3%
	20%	25%	3%
	20%	25%	3%
	20%	30%	3%
	20%	30%
	20%	1%
	20%	1%
	20%	30%
	20%	30%
	20%	25%	3%
	10%	1%	1%
	10%	1%	1%

Emergency Wartime Increases (7/10/09)

Discussion

In early July 2009, PEACE threatened the United States and the newly formed Fortis alliance that they would be invaded. To prepare for the risk of war and the costs that would accompany it, Congress almost unanimously decided to raise several taxes to increase revenue. The raises were met with opposition at first, with various people claiming that the new 30% Income Tax rates were just additional unnecessary taxes piled on top of what were supposed to be temporary taxes. However, several congressmen wrote articles in the media saying that the taxes were only for war and would be lowered, which got rid of much of the criticism.

Figures

Product	Income Tax	Import Tax	VAT
	30%	18%	1%
	30%	10%	1%
	20%	5%	1%
	30%	10%	1%
	30%	5%
	20%	1%
	20%	1%
	30%	10%
	30%	10%
	30%	7%	1%
	20%	1%	1%
	30%	1%	1%