More on Human Endowment Taxation

Villanova law prof James Maule reminds me that something akin to human endowment taxation (the subject of my earlier query) is seen in child support law, specifically the computation of child support contributions:

The purpose is to prevent parents from deliberately reducing income (which is used in the tables from which child support obligations are determined). Of course, the reasons for using "potential income" (weakly defined) in the child support context don't necessarily mean that using "potential income" (however defined) in a revenue collecting process is appropriate.

Although I can't find it on-line, I do remember a case from New York this year in which the judge effectively precluded a divorced dad from leaving law practice to pursue a seminary degree.  I guess I don't have that much of a problem with an earning capacity / human endowment approach when it comes to our pre-existing obligations (I'm not sure what feasible alternative there could be), but assigning a value to every individual for taxation purposes still seems a bit heavy-handed.  Catholic legal theory would, of course, support the idea that "to whom much is given, much is expected," (Luke 12:48) but that's a call to stewardship and self-directed responsibility, not a license to have the state figure out how "gifted" you are, then hand you a bill.

Rob