ABILITY-TO-PAY PRINCIPLE: A principle of taxation in which taxes are based on the income or resource-ownership ability of people to pay the tax. The income tax collected by our friends at the Internal Revenue Service is one of the most common taxes that seeks to abide by the ability-to-pay principle. In theory, the income tax system is set up such that people with greater incomes pay more taxes. Proportional and progressive taxes follow this ability-to-pay principle, while regressive taxes, such as sales taxes and Social Security taxes, don't.

     See also | benefit principle | tax | income | public goods | progressive tax | regressive tax | proportional tax | circular flow |

ABILITY-TO-PAY PRINCIPLE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2022. [Accessed: January 26, 2022].

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The second of seven basic rules of the economy, stating that market prices are determined by subjective values and the preferences of buyers and resource owners. Contrary to popular opinion, prices and costs are not immutably facts of nature, but are ultimately based on what people are willing to pay or accept.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time wandering around the shopping mall trying to buy either a coffee cup commemorating the 1960 Presidential election or a how-to book on fixing your computer, with illustrations. Be on the lookout for poorly written technical manuals.
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