Ownership is not a gift from the government

In an opinion piece published by mbl.is, Independence Party MP Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir argues that the government is wrongly speaking of people’s and businesses’ income as if it belonged to the state.

With Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir’s government halfway through its term, Einarsdóttir says its record includes inflation at its highest level in two years, rising unemployment and a bleak economic outlook, with little prospect of lower interest rates. She criticises ministers for promoting slogans such as “getting the machinery going” and presenting a budget bill built largely on tax and fee increases as responsible government.

More concerning, she writes, is the government’s language around taxation. Majority MPs, including the prime minister, describe different tax rates as “concessions” that should be removed, and tax increases as the “abolition of tax relief”, she says.

Einarsdóttir argues that this wording implies the state has a special claim to people’s income and that allowing individuals or businesses to keep more of it is a favour from the government. Repeated often enough, she warns, such language can take hold.

Income is protected by property rights under the constitution, she writes, and people should not have to surrender it unless specific conditions are met. While lawmakers can set taxes, their authority is not unlimited, she says.

In a free society, people can work, create value and earn income that belongs to them, Einarsdóttir argues. The state may claim part of it, subject to strict legal requirements, to fund shared responsibilities. The right to life, liberty and property is not a gift or “concession” from the government, she writes.