[Verse 1] When Haig and Simons sat down to write They defined income clear and bright Consumption plus the change in wealth That's the formula for fiscal health Your garden tomatoes, imputed rent Every dollar earned or never spent But the Income Tax Act draws different lines Ignoring these academic designs [Chorus] Two frameworks that the Act ignores Haig-Simons knocking at our doors Consumption plus net worth's increase That's income without release Endowment tax your power to earn Consumption theory makes us learn What we could tax but never do Academic truth versus revenue [Verse 2] Living with your parents rent-free That's income academically Food you grow in your backyard Should be taxed if we're playing their card But subsistence costs complicate the game Necessities reduce the claim What's discretionary, what's survival need These distinctions make economists plead [Chorus] Two frameworks that the Act ignores Haig-Simons knocking at our doors Consumption plus net worth's increase That's income without release Endowment tax your power to earn Consumption theory makes us learn What we could tax but never do Academic truth versus revenue [Bridge] Endowment taxation takes a different route Tax your human capital absolute Not what you earn but what you could Sidestep the measurement for good While consumption theory says tax what you spend Above subsistence, that's the end Save and invest without the weight Most coherent but complex fate [Verse 3] Section three of the Income Tax Act Diverges from this academic pact Read the nineteen twenty-one Haig text Simons thirty-eight comes next Map each concept, note each split Where theory and practice never fit Administrative ease wins the day Over philosophic display [Chorus] Two frameworks that the Act ignores Haig-Simons knocking at our doors Consumption plus net worth's increase That's income without release Endowment tax your power to earn Consumption theory makes us learn What we could tax but never do Academic truth versus revenue [Outro] Philosophy versus practical need Theory planted like a seed But the Act chooses different ground Where administrative ease is found
← 1 The Act's Non-Definition | 3 The Corporate vs. Individual Asymmetry →