Should the wealthy pay more taxes?

Wealthy people already pay their fair share

Question: Should the wealthy pay more taxes?
Position‹2 of 2: No, the wealthy should not have to pay more tax
Argument‹3 of 3: Wealthy people already pay their fair share

The tax burden on the wealthy is already proportionally higher than any other income group, and their taxation helps pay into a substantial portion of public service costs. It would be unfair to increase their share further.

The argument

In most societies the majority of tax is already paid by the wealthiest both directly through higher rates of income tax and indirectly through taxes on spending such as Value Added Tax (VAT). In the UK, the wealthiest one per cent account for third of all income tax. Any attempts to increase the tax burden on the wealthiest in society would be viewed as both divisive and unfair.

Premises

[P1]In most societies the wealthiest already pay the most tax, both directly through higher income tax rates and indirectly through spending taxes like VAT. [P2] In the UK the wealthiest 1% account for a third of all income tax. [P3] Increasing their burden further would be both divisive and unfair. [C] Therefore, because wealthy people already pay their fair share, the wealthy should not have to pay more tax.

Counter-arguments

In modern civilised societies, there is a shared belief that humans are entitled to a certain standard of living and access to vital public services irrespective of their income or background. This fundamental principle is at the heart of most liberal democratic societies and relates to the belief that the needs of the individual should be super ceded by the needs of the community. This philosophy advocates that those with the greatest means should pay the highest amount of cost and this should be reflected in a modern tax system.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] We should increase tax rates in order to ensure all people have an acceptable standard of living.