Even in the current antitax climate, we'll probably see new, significant soda taxes soon, somewhere; Philadelphia, New York (city and state) and San Francisco all considered them last year, and the scenario for such a tax spreading could be similar to that of legalized gambling: once the income stream becomes apparent, it will seem irresistible to cash-strapped governments.
While the bank tax upset Austrian and Italian banks and their governments, this new round of taxes spreads the pain across Europe.
Over the years, however, as the rules were loosened, the practice of exchanging one asset for another without incurring taxes spread to everyone from commercial real estate developers and art collectors to major corporations.
And assume, as European officials say they hope will happen, that the tax spreads to other major markets, something Europe is trying to encourage by offering to share the tax revenue with other countries that impose a similar tax.
In the early 1930s, the nationwide Civil disobedience movement against the British Salt tax spread to Bombay.
Mr Kelkar's five-year plan seeks to eliminate the government's revenue deficit (amounting to 3.5% of GDP) by integrating goods and services taxes, reducing tax rates but spreading the tax net broader.
Photograph: Mazen Mahdi/EPA 6.55pm GMT Protests against the French government's environment tax are spreading across France.
If you don't need your 2009 RMD now but are likely to need that cash in the next few years (say, for a grandchild's tuition bill), ask your accountant whether you'll pay less tax by spreading out withdrawals over 2009 and 2010 or waiting and taking more in 2010.
The idea of lowering the sales tax and spreading it out to other items seems logical.
Brown has a new opportunity to attack a previously ignored to-do list that starts with tax reform, spreading the revenue base and making the structure more stable.
Were the tax burden spread more equitably, taxes on rental units in the city would drop by between $1,200 and $1,500 annually on average, according to an earlier study cited by the Furman Center.
