gross national hapiness index

[kandrathe]

And how would this tax not be sharply regressive, compared with what is currently in place?

I think you could do that by providing a progressive tax credit based on number of dependents on the other income taxes they would pay.

You can pretty much model what a typical family spends per year per person on sustaining themselves, then figure what they'd pay in sales taxes on that sustenance. Adjust progressively as needed on their income taxes. Then, there are those who don't have any income... People on government support would have a "tax free" debit card they use to spend their government provided income.

It would help greatly if tax rates were tied to zip codes to balance regional issues.