Libertarianism and Taxation

Abstract

Chapter 5 discusses the implications of libertarianism for just taxation. Libertarianism holds that agents fully own themselves and have certain moral powers to appropriate natural or abandoned resources. Some versions of libertarianism preclude the possibility of just taxation, but the author claims that other versions can, under very limited circumstances, endorse two kinds of taxes as just: taxes on right-infringers for the cost of rights-enforcement and taxes on anyone with an excess share of the value ownership rights over natural resources. Other kinds of taxation, such as income taxes, human resource (talents) taxes, and artifactual resource taxation are not just on any version of libertarianism.