The Mechanical Era

The office was in a state of complete silence, with the only noise made being the mechanical clicks from the typewriter as Kant continued to type on the piece of paper. To his right of the typewriter, there was a stack of papers, facing down to the left, punched and placed on the file. To his left, there was an open book, which he repeatedly looked at and read before continuing on typing.

Alan Fleck soon knocks on the door. After he gets Kant's consent, he enters the room. On his hands, was a stack of blank paper that Kant had ordered him to bring. He sets them down on the table and turns around to walk out of the room. Just before he was able to leave, Kant calls for him.

"Excuse me, minister Fleck, could you sit down for a while? Just wait a minute." Kant asks. Alan turns around and smiles at the king.

"Of course, sir." He takes off his acorn-gray wool suit and places it on the coat rack, next to Kant's black suit, before sitting down. Kant types for a good minute before he stops and takes out the paper before placing it on the file as well. He then flips it over to the right, returning to the first page of his writings. Seeing that he appeared to have completed what he was typing, Alan Fleck asks a question.

"What is it that you want to speak to me about, sir?"

"Well, it is about a new method of taxation regarding Industrial District 1. Instead of taxing the businesses and factories the normal way, which is to ask either money or products from them, I would like to introduce a new way to tax them."

"Ok, sir. I am all ears," Alan replied as he sat straighter in his chair.

"You see, instead of implementing income taxes, customs duties, poll taxes, or excise taxes and such, I suggest we implement only a land value tax. Under the new law, the tax owed by an individual or entity is based on the rental value of the land they own or use.

To calculate the land value tax owed, the first step is to determine the rental value of the land by taking into account factors such as location, access to transportation, the quality of the land, and so on. Considering that Industrial District 1 has become a more developed land, it will be considered more valuable.

Once the value of the land has been determined, the land value tax rate is applied. Now, we want the rate to a level that is sufficient to collect the full economic rent of the land, but not so high that it discourages investment because it is the point of Industrial District 1.

The revaluation will take place every 6 months for 2 times a year. The months are Bellum in the first quarter and Folina in the third quarter."

"I see, sir. Would you mind explaining why you would only impose a land value tax?"

"Land Taxes were observed to be the most efficient forms of taxation as they showed the least amount of distortions in the economy. At least according to the 14 books I found regarding the subject.

Another advantage would be that it incentivizes the efficient use of land. We have limited space on this island where the city sits. So we need to make sure that all the space is used adequately and efficiently." Kant explained as Alan Fleck carefully listens. Once Kant finishes, he leans back on his chair.

"So, Minister Fleck, what do you think?" Kant questions the minister, wanting his opinion.

"Hm... I am not sure. I have this question bugging my mind. Will this be the ONLY tax you would want to implement, strictly to Industrial District 1?"

"Well no. There will be other taxes, but they will be drastically reduced for businesses to settle their factories in the area. While it might start in Industrial District 1, I hope to expand it to other parts of the city and kingdom."

"Is there a specific reason for that?"

"Well, according to this scholar named Kelly Geroge..." he opens his drawer and picks up a book residing in it. He flips a few pages and started reading the text out loud for Alan.

"...by allowing cities that specialize in producing a product to sell it off to a city in need, it can focus on doing what it can do best..." Kant closes the book.

"By reducing these taxes, I can import the materials I need to the city, which can be shipped off to the factories, where they will turn it into something useful. For example, they turn cotton into a shirt as cheaply as possible.

This product can then be exported and compete in other cities, even if there are some taxes involved, and will allow governments to acquire more funds overall. So... what do you think?"

"You are asking for my opinion, sir?"

"Yes, I am."

"I see. Well, sir, I think you should keep the current taxes mostly intact. Maybe decrease a little bit, say by 10% of the current tax? Say, if the tax is 50%, it will drop to 45%. It will still be cheaper to import it, but there will be a safeguard in case things go bad."

"I see. Thank you for the input."

"You are welcome, sir. Say, what is the tax rate that you want to apply?"

Currently, I am thinking of applying a 30% rate, which is comparatively better than what everyone else is offering," Kant suggested.

"30%... Excuse me, sir, I have a suggestion. May I speak?" Alan questioned.

"Yes. Go on."

"Alright. Instead of going with 30%, I recommend you go with 65%. Currently, the lowest on any other continent is about 75% in terms of land taxes. According to the way you set up the tax, and the buildings that will be present there, it will still be cheaper that will still attract the merchants you are looking for.

Once the merchants have settled there, you can decrease the amount of tax. As merchants are attracted and land develops its value increase. Since the value increase, you can decrease the tax rate and still make more. This will also allow you to compete with other kingdoms that would try to mimic your policy."

"Hmm... I guess that will work. Thank you for the idea."

"You are welcome, sir. Is that everything you wanted to discuss?"

"Actually no, there is one more thing I have been meaning I have been planning."

"What is it?"

"It is about expanding the government staff members and adding new departments to handle certain tasks."

"Oh... is that so? Well sir, is there any particular department you would want to expand?"

"I am thinking of introducing a formal department specialized in and responsible for enforcing our tax laws and collecting taxes. Considering that specialization and division of labor appear to have increased efficiency, I think it would also be best to try applying it to the government structure," Kant suggested. Alan's face tried to hold in his smile.

"I see where you are getting at. Yes, that is a very good idea, sir. If we do specialize, we could increase the amount of taxes collected, and it will make our job of enforcing the new taxation method a lot easier.

Say, sir. Could you mind going into further detail on how this department works? I need the information to be able to hire the correct people for the job," Alan asks, a little excited.

"Alright then. The new department is currently named the Internal Revenue Service Department, or I.R.S. for short. They are meant to do a few things. The first is to collect taxes from individuals and businesses. The second is to enforce the tax laws by investigating cases of tax evasion, fraud, and other violations.

The third and final responsibility of the internal revenue service department is to assist taxpayers who might have some confusion regarding the concerns of their taxes and to resolve any disputes with the agency.

The agency will have accountants to ensure that taxpayers are complying with tax laws. It will also have interpreters, or what I like to call tax specialists, to interpret and enforce tax laws.

There will need to be some attorneys for the agency to fight in court, and it will also need administrative staff members to provide support services to the agency. For example, human resources, budgeting, public relations, and such.

Finally, there will be what I call agents. These people will be the ones investigating any potential violation of the tax law implemented." Kant then grabs the file on the desk and passes it on to Alan.

"If you want more details, I suggest you read that charter. I worked for a few weeks on perfecting it."

"I will sir, thank you."

"When do you think you will be able to implement the new agency?" Kant asks.

"It will take a while, but I can guarantee you that I will have the department set up and running smoothly in about 2 to 3 weeks?"

"That is good. Well, that is all I had to discuss with you. You are free to leave now."

"Alright, sir. Again, thank you." Alan replies. He gets up from his chair, bows down, and leaves the room.