We approach that notable time of year when the snow is melting, the sun is shining, and a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of itemizing to offset the annual looting fest by our federal and state governments. Today we band together in the spirit of survival to remember that even in 2009, there is life after taxes, as long as we don't have to buy anything for the rest of the year.
While the Obama administration struggles to ease our tax burden, we reflect on the roots of American taxes when in 1773, the colonists staged The Boston Tea Party to rebel against taxation without representation -- since the commute to Parliament was prohibitive and also non-deductible. In addition to spiking the flavor of Boston Harbor, the Tea Party succeeded in eliminating the unfair tea tax, which we later replaced with the property tax, employment tax, social security tax, capital gains tax, and the income tax.
Taxation was not always a contact sport. In the early 1800s, Americans paid a simple luxury tax on items like tobacco and alcohol, a reason to be grateful for other people's vices. But the history of tax is the history of war. The sales tax was born to finance the War of 1812, while the income tax was conceived by President Lincoln to bankroll the Civil War -- along with the excise tax, the car wash and the yard sale.
Repealed in 1872, revived in 1894, ruled unconstitutional in 1895, and reinstated in 1913, the lowly misunderstood income tax is here to stay. Which is why today we pay our taxes every year whether we are engaged in combat or just sitting at home decoding our 1040s. And by now we are getting used to the feeling of always having someone else's hand in our wallets, and realizing that paying taxes to Uncle Sam doesn't mean we're losing money. We're gaining shares of an F-16 Viper.
The Internal Revenue Service has been collecting our taxes since 1862. And apparently it's still not enough. And if they ever have a question, they will be happy to audit your tax returns all the way back to your first newspaper route, a procedure as painless as having your spleen removed through your mouth in a dentist's office. And a reminder to all wage earners to save your receipts so you can justify every business latté you ever deducted. Not that I knew about receipts when I was 23 and got audited -- probably for earning so little income, which I had no idea was illegal. I arrived carrying a big cardboard box filled with mystery papers organized like the contents of a wastebasket and probably included some receipts. In response to each of the questions posed by the tax collector, who breathed fire that swirled high above his horns, I rummaged through the box holding up one receipt after another asking, "Is this it?" [No response.] "How about this one?" Honestly, I was not under the influence of any mind-altering substances, although that could only have helped. But after a while the tax collector told me to take my box and never darken his doorway again. Maybe he decided to try meeting his quota with a better prospect, like Chevron.
Before you try the "big box of mystery papers" method, remember that results may vary. Consult your tax adviser. And be prepared, be very prepared. After all, paying taxes is just the price of our freedom to work and pay taxes. Remember this when you're drinking your next cup of tea.
I think this plan would be very fair to everyone, the people who do not wish to pay taxes, as well as those who do and who understand that they are only paying for the services they voted for.
It amazes and scares me how often I agree with you.
BBack
The fact of the matter is that we pay taxes not so that the government can rob us, but so that they can generate the society that we all want!
As income increases the social assistance diminishes and the rate of taxation increases. The more you make, the less you take, and the more you pay. Finally, you reach that reviled, ungrateful, unscrupulous 5% group. They account for more than 60% of the income tax revenues. http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=6
Understand me. I am not complaining about paying taxes. It is a requirement for the establishment and maintenance of society. I object to the construct that it is the government that gives. As I said before, the government redistributes what individuals give through taxation
Given me?
I (and/or my family) have paid for everything I have received from the Government. My Elem. and H.S. education was paid for by my parents Property Taxes. I worked my way through college and my parents helped (took 10 years). User fees and gas taxes pay for my use of the roads. My Property Taxes pay for the education of my two sons. My wife and I will pay for their college. Part of my federal taxes pay for defense and a since of security. My local taxes pay for my local Police and Fire departments,; furthering the sense of security The Government does not and cannot give anything to anybody.
It is people who give, and the government that inefficiently distributes those receipts. In fact, I give more to the government than I receive from it. The fact that as a liberal or a conservative, you pay income taxes in a progressive tax system means that you are repaying society in inverse proportion to the benefit received.
A low income entity pays a low (or no) tax rate and qualifies for significant social assistance such as housing, utilities, and transportation subsidies and food assistance programs (WIC, Food Stamps, free school lunches, Meals on Wheels, etc.). That assistance is given not by the government but by other taxpayers.
--Continued--
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, or TANSTAAFL.
My point is that most people LIKE those things that the government provides, so they need to continue paying taxes, just like they need to pay for the food that they buy at the store!
Some people have not had a reasonable chance and while I believe there is much room for improvement in our public assistance programs, they are needed and even helpful. I think there should be some kind of incentive to get off of public assistance. For instance, if you are physically capable you must show up and volunteer a portion of your time to non-profit community organizations while getting public funds. Or when you do get a job, instead of cutting off all assistance make it a gradual cutback. I have heard of people on PA that get $1600 a month and take a job making $200 a week and they are kicked out of the program so they must quit the job. Not much incentive to pick yourself up.
And ROTC is a good program that trades Schooling for a commitment to the armed services, at a reasonable pay grade. How about similar programs for Teachers and other needed professions?
I would also like to see some of the waste removed from our government. Let us talk about $100 hammers, $400 toilet seats, charging for laundry services or a $30 six-pack of soda for our troops in Iraq.
if the states want to spend the money of their constituents on objects of benevelence that is a issue for the voters of that state but is absolutely outside the purview of the federal govt.