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If writer Eric Boehm is planning to attend a July 4th barbecue with aging friends and relations, he may need to bring his own burgers and beer. A reliable voice for tax restraint, he’s nevertheless opposing a particular variety of relief that has been enjoying bipartisan popularity among the political class: property tax breaks that are exclusively reserved for senior citizens. Mr. Boehm writes for Reason: Yes, as a libertarian writing for a libertarian publication, I am obligated to pause for a moment and acknowledge the obvious fact: Lower taxes are better than higher taxes. Government policy should always be oriented towards allowing people to keep more of their own money, rather than obligating them to shovel it into the bottomless maw of government at all levels. But specialized tax breaks for people within certain age brackets make very little sense—and they don’t actually lower taxes. If the government does not reduce the cost of public services, then a special tax break for
one group merely forces everyone else to pick up the slack. Cutting one group’s tax bill doesn’t always automatically require a hike on another, but it’s clear that simple, broad-based taxes that apply a low rate to everybody are better for growth than complicated tax codes with carve-outs for politically favored constituencies offset by higher exactions on the disfavored. Overall tax burdens also tend to be especially heavy in jurisdictions with complex tax regimes, suggesting that as a political matter taxpayers have a better chance of resisting the growth of government if they are similarly situated and united in opposition.
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