Love this! I think it may be written into our American "DNA" to hate taxes on principle. But I've also often wondered why people hate them so much. Yes, they come out of our pay. But taxes are what ensure all our services work, like schools, fire departments and police departments, community spaces like parks and libraries, and so on. So, if we don't pay for government services with our taxes, we don't get any of these things. I think people often forget that. Another consideration: Our reluctance to pay taxes often means we pay more for some things. I'm a huge supporter of universal healthcare. Yes, if we had universal healthcare our taxes would go up. But no one ever does the math. We'd actually end up paying less through our taxes than the average American pays out of pocket for healthcare now. This, our reluctance to pay for universal healthcare with our taxes is the reason we have the most expensive healthcare of any first world country. (Side note: We also have the worst healthcare of any first world country.)
I think a big reason people have a problem with paying taxes is because they see so much waste. We know that taxes help pay for some services (example safety and roads), but more and more we have to keep paying for things. Where we live now we have to pay for trash pickup ourselves and separately for recycling. My partner is a government employee and the things they share blow my mind. Waste, redundancy, inefficiencies, to name a few. Also there is the perception (true or false) that middle and lower class have to pay more than their fair share for services that are also used by those who are more well-off. Not mention how complicated the tax system has become.
"When I say I love paying taxes, please don’t take that to mean I love filing a tax return. The latter is a giant pain that shouldn’t exist" - hah, so true! Also just how much it complicates decision making...getting married and freelancing are 2 major examples where I have held off to reduce additional tax burdens. The tax system can have so many repercussions that aren't immediately obvious. Thank goodness for modern day tax software to help navigate!
Love this! I think it may be written into our American "DNA" to hate taxes on principle. But I've also often wondered why people hate them so much. Yes, they come out of our pay. But taxes are what ensure all our services work, like schools, fire departments and police departments, community spaces like parks and libraries, and so on. So, if we don't pay for government services with our taxes, we don't get any of these things. I think people often forget that. Another consideration: Our reluctance to pay taxes often means we pay more for some things. I'm a huge supporter of universal healthcare. Yes, if we had universal healthcare our taxes would go up. But no one ever does the math. We'd actually end up paying less through our taxes than the average American pays out of pocket for healthcare now. This, our reluctance to pay for universal healthcare with our taxes is the reason we have the most expensive healthcare of any first world country. (Side note: We also have the worst healthcare of any first world country.)
I think a big reason people have a problem with paying taxes is because they see so much waste. We know that taxes help pay for some services (example safety and roads), but more and more we have to keep paying for things. Where we live now we have to pay for trash pickup ourselves and separately for recycling. My partner is a government employee and the things they share blow my mind. Waste, redundancy, inefficiencies, to name a few. Also there is the perception (true or false) that middle and lower class have to pay more than their fair share for services that are also used by those who are more well-off. Not mention how complicated the tax system has become.
Yup. And fight for a universal income
"When I say I love paying taxes, please don’t take that to mean I love filing a tax return. The latter is a giant pain that shouldn’t exist" - hah, so true! Also just how much it complicates decision making...getting married and freelancing are 2 major examples where I have held off to reduce additional tax burdens. The tax system can have so many repercussions that aren't immediately obvious. Thank goodness for modern day tax software to help navigate!