Band 6+: In many countries, a small number of people have extremely high annual incomes. These people should be required to pay a much higher rate of income tax. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

In several countries, only few people have extrememly high annual incomes. These individuals should pay a higher rate of income tax. I strongly agree with the statement. Due to more taxes provided by the rich, the burden of taxes on the poor will be significantly reduced while the wealthy individuals would also keep the government more accountable for the spending.

One of the major reason for my agreement is that I believe when the high earning individuals pay more taxes, the government recieves sufficient money for administrative and development expenses. This will consequently reduce the demand of taxes from the poorer individuals of the country. This saved amount can be further utilised by the poor for better education or better living. For example, in contemporary societies, the rich could bribe the policy makers for reduction in taxes for the wealthy citizens. So the government will rely more on the middle and poor classes of society for revenue.

Another reason is that wealthy individuals utilise the resources and services of their country, sometimes even more than an average citizen. Resources such as clean water and land, and services like transportation and safety of the community. Using these resources without paying a fair tax would cannot be justified. Furthermore, when the rich are taxed more, they will start to utilize more public services such as public schools for their children and public transportation for their travel. As a result, the government will be held more accountable. We can see such instances in developed countries like Denmark, where children of different economic classes study together in the same public schools.

However, many people believe that when the wealthy are taxed more, they would leave the country and they would take their buisness elsewhere. This is not true. Since, rich people stay in developed places with good services, one would not take up much trouble to relocate to a new place and start all over again. One such example is that recently the wealthy New York residents stayed in the city even when the taxes had increased because New York is where the skilled labour force exists.

In conclusion, I believe that people with higher annual incomes should have a higher rate of income tax. This will lead to reducing the financial burden on the poorer class of society and would encourage the rich to asssimilate into the society rather than excluding themselves.