Douchebag Tax

 Many years ago I proposed a tax with the unfortunate acronym of VAST.  Value Added by Status Tax.

 In concept it was very simple: For each category of consumption a basic level of value would be established:  An autonomous taxi trip for local transportation, a simple diner for a meal out, a street market for groceries, a basic Ford or Chevy for a car, a Boston Whaler for a boat, etc.  Any vendor charging more than the basic level value would be required to add a progressive tax based on the price paid minus the basic level.  If a family meal out were determined to have a basic value of $10 a restaurant charging $25 would be required to charge a small % tax on the extra $15.  A restaurant charging $100 would have to charge a larger % tax on the $90.  If well over the basic level the tax might be near 100% of the value added.  Each category would have its own rate to give politicians something to argue about, with luxury categories taxed at a much higher rate.