A sad development. At least in the US, the fact that rent is taxable income to the landlord but imputed rent is untaxed is a regressive tax break for property owners (and was apparently a mistake of the original Form 1040; see Lawrence Zelenak, “The Early Income Tax and the Imputed Rental Income of Homeowners” https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108377157.008). I wonder what convinced majority-renter Swiss voters to enact such a tax break?
Wages are taxable income to workers but imputed wages are untaxed. That’s a regressive tax break for people who cook their own food and care for their own children.
lol but it’s true. The less productive stuff you do outside the formal economy the more value you get to keep. That’s why digital cash is so problematic
The difference is that you’re comparing labor income (making your own dinner) to rental income from land (imputed rent). Poor people tend to not own property, whereas poor people do tend to make their own meals, so I doubt your claim that taxing home meals would be equally progressive.
