I think you and I are dancing on the head of a pin here. I would say that government costs more to the one paying a higher amount, than it does to the one paying a lesser amount. When we get into different rates, it becomes even more skewed.
There's no doubt about it, there is an ingrained transfer of wealth within our government's policies, in the form the earned income credits, subsidies (both social & business) and social security...
the existence of the estate tax that creates such an inequality of treatment, not the repeal of it.
True, true of every tax beyond a flat *fee* tax. Any percentage basis tax places greater responsibility for costs of government on the shoulders on some members of society.
Let's look at a flat tax. The person making $100,000 per year would pay 10 times more for government than the person making $10,000. Does the government give them 10 times more in the form of government services? If not, then the person paying 10 times more in taxes is subsidizing government services on behalf of the person paying less.
The argument can be made that those who make more have more that needs to be protected, and may require more government resources to protect it. I haven't done the calculations myself.