Fred, (& Susan) > even more than direct/indirect, you need to specify what is "neutral".
You have not yet adequately done so. As I try to do this, I realize that neutral must apply to some other characteristic, like a car's "neutral color", or a car "in neutral" (gear). So, a policy change can be "revenue neutral", clearly meaning total revenue is the same before, and after, the policy change. Thus, increasing a land tax and decreasing other local taxes can be revenue neutral, (and I would support such a change) but insofar as it will encourage some behavior and discourage other (eg idle land will cost more), it is NOT "incentive neutral". Reducing dividend taxation will encourage more companies to pay out dividends, and more capital investment (stock price increases) in those companies that do pay more out (often not tech companies). I must say I favor ALL tax reduction proposals that mean less total gov't revenue, despite relative favoring of some less evil taxes (gas tax) as compared to more evil (income tax). Tom Grey
