How to look at the Tax Issue.
So why the heck to pay taxes anyway? There are perceivably two primary purposes of taxation. The first reason is the same as why there should be a federal government (the founding fathers had scuffles on this one) – financial resources are necessary to operate a legal system, police and military force to enforce your civil rights. The other vital reason is some long term, large scope, and high-minded infrastructure projects are too high tickets for any private entities.
The tax system can also serve as a smoother for income equality, through a lopsided progressive tax that encumbers more the rich on the public courses. Nobody likes to pay a higher share without a well stated reason, as Thomas Jefferson once wrote regarding the "general Welfare" clause:
To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, "to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
A basic guideline to see it through the lens of overall well beings. If you are a lucky rich stiff complaining about paying 35% of your $1 million income because the guy next door pays a meager 10% out of $10,000 wage, you can do it in your own right.
Finally, tax can’t be talked about single-handedly without spending. Together those two constitute the federal budget. When the government imposes tax on you, it in effect says to spend the money for you. If more are collected, the government owes you; otherwise you (or your heir) have to make up what’s short. When the government continuously runs a deficit, don’t consider it someone else’s problem: if everyone thinks that way, it’s everyone’s problem. Hence, it makes the federal spending more pivotal.
If it may interest you, here are some personal opinions on prevailing tax policy proposals.
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