More taxes

I've had several posts arguing that most people don't support high tax rates on large incomes.  Robert Lane summarized public opinion as: "facilitating earning is good, giving to the truly needy is acceptable, but taking, even from the rich, is bad," and this seems pretty accurate.  You could also say that ordinary people aren't bothered by inequality in itself--what they care about is fairness.  So what taxes, if any, might reduce inequality while being consistent with popular views about fairness?  I think that there are several:

1.  A minimum tax rate for high earners, or closing "loopholes" more generally.  People are upset when people with high incomes pay at lower rates than middle income people.  In a previous post, I mentioned a poll from 2012 which asked whether people with incomes of $1,000,000 or more should be have to pay at least 30% of their income in taxes:  60 percent said they should.  

2.  Taxes on corporations:  In 2017, a poll asked "President (Donald) Trump has said that he wants to cut the tax rate on corporations from its current top rate of thirty-five percent to fifteen percent. Would you favor or oppose this? And do you strongly favor/oppose or somewhat favor/oppose this?"  38% were in favor, and 50% were opposed (32% strongly opposed and 21% strongly in favor).  

3.  A wealth tax.  In 2019, a Fox News poll asked about "Creating an annual two percent wealth tax on an individual’s worth over $50 million dollars in addition to income tax?"  68% were in favor, 45% strongly in favor.  I don't think that's because people prefer wealth taxes to income taxes in principle, it's just that two percent doesn't sound like a high rate.  

4.  I think people distinguish between different types of income, and would favor higher taxes on "unearned" income or "speculation."  This is more speculative:   I couldn't find any questions on this subject, except one: "Do you favor or oppose raising taxes on financial transactions such as the sale of stocks or bonds?"  On this, only 33% were in favor and 59% opposed. Still, I think that a tax on high-speed trading might be popular. 

Many intellectuals are concerned about inequality in general, and look for the most efficient way to reduce it.  From this point of view, high marginal tax rates on high incomes are attractive--they address the problem directly.  Some of the taxes I mention above might be less efficient (for example, most economists seem to favor low corporate tax rates).  However, they might get more support from the public.

[Data from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research]