Identifying The Four Things That Justify Taxation

By Paula Black


When an ordinary person thinks about taxes, the most basic question that pops out is, "what are taxes for?" For anyone who has not studied economics, a comprehensive answer is the farthest from their minds. Nonetheless there are four reasons why taxes exist in a state.

The most basic justification for taxation is "revenue". Revenue is the income of the government or the state, therefore, these are the funds itself used in many government projects and services. The size of the army, the condition of the roads, and the efficiency of the schools and hospitals reflect upon the tax revenue and the state's economic management.

For many who lived in highly capitalist states, many citizens have already raised their voices in anger due to the overindulgences of rich people. This is nothing new in the history of humanity. When the slaves in Ancient Egypt rose against the landlords, history repeats itself and today American working class rallies against Wall Street.

The main reason behind that failure is none other than greed, corruption and oligarchy. For that reason, there is a serious need for "redistribution" as far as taxation is concerned. The idea behind redistribution is to transfer surplus wealth and resources access from the rich to the poor sectors of society- another simple yet elegant concept.

Taxation, throughout history, is never divisible from the state's policy. In Medieval Era the non-Muslims in the Middle East were taxed simply for being an infidel. In other less literate areas of the Islamic world, their form of jizya tax policy almost constituted a form of slavery where non-Muslim laborers became severely underpaid.

The idea behind re-pricing is the very literal extension of Jesus' quotation in terms of moral duty. In theory it meant levying higher taxes for the extremely rich people or for those who habitually do discouraging acts like smoking or using carbon-based fuels. In a nutshell, these notable people or sectors of society would be forced to give away their surpluses, considering that the state itself is fair in enforcing these.

Another way to put Jesus' economic law in terms of taxation is to ensure proper state "representation". In theory this ensures that the enforcers of the law are accountable for all people's welfare the moment they collect taxes from them. In the 18th Century the British masters of New England tried to mess around with their colonials but the Americans were Christians to the core and they never let this slide.

The importance of "representation" is the core of state-people symbiosis. Representation results to mutual accountability. If citizens are accountable for breaking the law because of tax evasion, government agencies should be equally accountable for poverty resulting to mismanagement of funds.

An error rate in property taxes, contrary to public or official opinion, of 40 to 60% prevails. Real estate tax consultants work with clients who want to pay a lower property tax if they see they are over charged. And there are MANY potential clients.




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