The Optimal Taxation of Height A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution

Should the income tax include a credit for short taxpayers and a surcharge for tall ones? The standard utilitarian framework for tax analysis answers this question in the affirmative Moreover, a plausible parameterization using data on height and wages implies a substantial height tax a tall person earning $50,000 should pay $4,500 more in tax than a short person One interpretation is that personal attributes correlated with wages should be considered more widely for determining tales Alternatively, if policies such as a height tax are rejected, then the standard utilitarian framework must fail to capture intuitive notions of distributive justice