I’ve given this a bit more thought and I’ve thought of a way of doing this. (Though, of course, having a potentially practical way to do something doesn’t sheild you from the potential consequences you outlined in the second part of your response to me.)
A percentage formula would be used to determine whether the item was eligible for the tax. The “avergage” price of an item versus the type you’re buying. As an example, the avgerage new car price, according to this article is $23,600. If a person bought a car worth 75% more than that, they would be eligible to pay the tax. A bar of Hershey’s would be exempt, but that $2000-an-ounce chocolate would not.
The tax of $100,000 on the boat does sound absurd. If the taxes I’m suggesting were relatively small (to the point where a wealthy person would just shrug it off, possibly on some sort of sliding scale) do you think it would still have a stifling effect on all sales? After all, you wouldn’t want to discourage purchasing of luxury goods-- you just want to make some money off of it.
I understand that this is probably much too broad of a topic to get into here, but if you could answer just a couple of questions, briefly, I’d appreciate it. (And will pester you no more about it.)
I understand why free trade is an important thing for world economies, but would a tarrif on luxury goods over a certain value actually cause a disruption to free trade of, say, commodities? Do gold toilet seats and rare wines really make up that large a portion of the market? Or, are economies like ecosystems, where the death of one seemingly insignificant insect species starts a chain of other species extinctions?
How about if the purchaser themselves paid the tax? Let’s say Paris Hilton orders a $10,000 pair of shoes made in Italy, she has to report that purchase on her taxes.