Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary.
I get this sentiment...I even like it.
But then he follows up with...
No one is patriotic about taxes.
...which, yes, I can see the point of, but which also seems an overgeneralisation.
Isn't it possible, after all, to indeed have a certain patriotic feeling about taxes (even grumbling as one pays them...), as long as one has the knowledge that a significant portion of them goes toward maintaining what is -- all things considered, comparatively, by historical and international standards, in spite of the trailer-load of qualifications that I'm not going to bother considering just now -- a decent society?
Or am I just a bit of a freak on this point?
The latter is entirely plausible, I realise.
No, you're not just a freak. Or perhaps we are both freaks together.
ReplyDeleteI see no problem about paying tax if, as you say, one is reasonably confident that the money goes towards the construction of a decent society,
Of course, given that at the moment 52% of my income goes as tax, and I'm on pensions, then perhaps one is justified in looking askance at what is really going on...
But then, I do live in the Netherlands...
It's not the paying I have a problem with, it's the hassle of filling out a tax form as a freelancer, having to store every ridiculous receipt and then being told by a tax advisor I should still take account of paragraph 1.4.5.2.1.6.10a. It has me bouncing off the walls every year again.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the gainfully employed complaining about taxes which are automatically deducted from their wages every month. What is their problem?
But, then again, I might be a freak on that score.
All freaks together then...
ReplyDeleteGood: I hate to be freaky in isolation.
Count me in as another freak, albeit on the other side of the Atlantic. As with Geoff, I don't mind paying taxes as long as I'm reasonably confident that the money is going toward building a decent society (although here in the US, this might be questionable as long as Republicans are in power). And Ario, I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as I'm among friends there I assume it's safe to admit that I actually feel a stab of pride when I find out about the work of the British High Commission against forced marriages. Tax money well spent I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThanks TGM, I did not know about that!
ReplyDelete