Am I a bad person if I manage to avoid taxes? (Hypothetical question)

[paxmao]

Well, look, money is not really a moral thing is more a matter of politics. In essence taxes are a money the government takes from you and spends in something. Now, politics is deciding what that is. In civilized countries that means that some groups of people will receive more than others.

So, it is a question of deciding if you are ok giving your money to "the collective" or you are ok trying to not do so. Is it more moral to pay?

[1714622534]

1714622534

[Afnan_faizah]

in my opinion, taxes are the worst way to support country economy, especially for country which has a lot of natural resources. my country has a lot of natural resources but still ask the people to pay taxes, government officials cannot manage the natural resources for development of country economy. a minister in my country said that if there is no corruption in my country then each citizen will get approximately $1300 every month without working. I think if your country really need it and the taxes improve public facilities then it is okay to pay tax, but if not then you better avoid taxes. actually big company always avoid to pay taxes too by manipulate the company accounting data.

[xSkylarx]

in my opinion, taxes are the worst way to support country economy, especially for country which has a lot of natural resources. my country has a lot of natural resources but still ask the people to pay taxes, government officials cannot manage the natural resources for development of country economy. a minister in my country said that if there is no corruption in my country then each citizen will get approximately $1300 every month without working. I think if your country really need it and the taxes improve public facilities then it is okay to pay tax, but if not then you better avoid taxes. actually big company always avoid to pay taxes too by manipulate the company accounting data.

You have a point on corruption, but with paying taxes, no matter what we don't like, it is still needed, even if your country has a lot of natural resources. First, how will the government get funds to process those minerals and taxes that are really used for the development of the country like subsidies, roads, buildings, etc.? That is where the problem starts, as the officials are getting corrupt, and they will then get the money that should be intended for the country.

[dothebeats]

in my opinion, taxes are the worst way to support country economy, especially for country which has a lot of natural resources. my country has a lot of natural resources but still ask the people to pay taxes, government officials cannot manage the natural resources for development of country economy. a minister in my country said that if there is no corruption in my country then each citizen will get approximately $1300 every month without working. I think if your country really need it and the taxes improve public facilities then it is okay to pay tax, but if not then you better avoid taxes. actually big company always avoid to pay taxes too by manipulate the company accounting data.

Unfortunately, taxes are still important. You need to pay labor and materials to get these natural resources you mentioned and one of the most prominent ways to get these needed funds are from taxes. In the scenario that you have stated, I think it is more of an issue of the government rather than taxes. It is not taxes but the act of what happens once taxes are collected.

I agree, however, that big companies do avoid taxes but is that enough reason for everyone to do the same?

[uswa56]

Well, look, money is not really a moral thing is more a matter of politics. In essence taxes are a money the government takes from you and spends in something. Now, politics is deciding what that is. In civilized countries that means that some groups of people will receive more than others.

So, it is a question of deciding if you are ok giving your money to "the collective" or you are ok trying to not do so. Is it more moral to pay?

Yes, I agree to that and paying taxes is not a benchmark for whether we will be moral or not, and I don't even trust the government that the tax money I have given will be managed properly.
It all depends on myself and even if I can avoid taxes, I will continue to do so and I don't consider it a crime, in fact many people in government who commit fraud on the tax money they receive is a real crime.

[knowngunman]

in my opinion, taxes are the worst way to support country economy, especially for country which has a lot of natural resources. my country has a lot of natural resources but still ask the people to pay taxes, government officials cannot manage the natural resources for development of country economy. a minister in my country said that if there is no corruption in my country then each citizen will get approximately $1300 every month without working. I think if your country really need it and the taxes improve public facilities then it is okay to pay tax, but if not then you better avoid taxes. actually big company always avoid to pay taxes too by manipulate the company accounting data.

This is never a cogent reason for one to evade tax. No matter how worse you think your country is, the government is trying to protect you and your property with external and internal forces, paying salaries, provision and maintenance of physical projects. Let not be selfish by not contributing our own little quota to the government coffer. Talking about mineral resources, government spend a huge amount of money for the extraction and processing of these mineral resources before it becomes finished product.

Corruption is present in every country in this world with just a slight difference and percentage. Tax evasion is also corruption and you're adding to the percentage of Corruption existed in your country. If you can not solve the problem, don't multiply the problem. Always pay your tax!

[xSkylarx]

Well, look, money is not really a moral thing is more a matter of politics. In essence taxes are a money the government takes from you and spends in something. Now, politics is deciding what that is. In civilized countries that means that some groups of people will receive more than others.

So, it is a question of deciding if you are ok giving your money to "the collective" or you are ok trying to not do so. Is it more moral to pay?

Yes, I agree to that and paying taxes is not a benchmark for whether we will be moral or not, and I don't even trust the government that the tax money I have given will be managed properly.
It all depends on myself and even if I can avoid taxes, I will continue to do so and I don't consider it a crime, in fact many people in government who commit fraud on the tax money they receive is a real crime.

Even seeing those corrupt officials using our money and getting rich makes me want to evade taxes more, but again, law is law, and I don't have a choice but to pay tax. Let's hope that it will be managed well, even though deep inside of us it won't and will go to the wallets of those corrupt politicians. Also, we know right now that there are rich people who aren't paying taxes, which makes us wonder how they do it, and that is the most unfair part of why they are not paying taxes or only paying less taxes than us.

[Alpha Marine]

If someone asks who is the most vicious robber, the answer is the government. The government is only concerned with state income by torturing its people, the government also does not care about the fate of its people who are increasingly squeezed due to inflation. Then the question arises, is the money collected from tax collection properly managed by the government? I'm not sure the government is managing the money properly, some of it is channeled for infrastructure development and some for the construction of houses for people who work in the tax office.

It's funny how something automatically becomes legal if it's the government that's doing it. If any other person was doing what the government was doing, they will be charged with fraud.
These people take taxpayers' money and mismanage the funds.

It's worst in developing countries. The government doesn't even care about the inflation eating deep into the economy, instead what they do is increase the VAT on almost everything. It's insane. The government gets away with a lot of things.
Imagine a person that pays taxes on everything still has to provide his security, electricity, and other things the government should be providing. What's more ridiculous is that you'll be committing a crime if you don't pay your taxes, despite not getting adequate help from the government.

[carlfebz2]

Well, look, money is not really a moral thing is more a matter of politics. In essence taxes are a money the government takes from you and spends in something. Now, politics is deciding what that is. In civilized countries that means that some groups of people will receive more than others.

So, it is a question of deciding if you are ok giving your money to "the collective" or you are ok trying to not do so. Is it more moral to pay?

Yes, I agree to that and paying taxes is not a benchmark for whether we will be moral or not, and I don't even trust the government that the tax money I have given will be managed properly.
It all depends on myself and even if I can avoid taxes, I will continue to do so and I don't consider it a crime, in fact many people in government who commit fraud on the tax money they receive is a real crime.

Even seeing those corrupt officials using our money and getting rich makes me want to evade taxes more, but again, law is law, and I don't have a choice but to pay tax. Let's hope that it will be managed well, even though deep inside of us it won't and will go to the wallets of those corrupt politicians. Also, we know right now that there are rich people who aren't paying taxes, which makes us wonder how they do it, and that is the most unfair part of why they are not paying taxes or only paying less taxes than us.

Lets say you are evading tax on other means but if you are working on a government firm then for sure those salary of yours is already that automatically deducted and same goes when you are buying up something

like goods or services then you are still paying up tax into that on which it is really just that cant be avoided that you would really be the ones that paying up those taxes and its something that would be part of day to day living. There are really just some areas on which we do really tend to evade out on other means and as long it wont really be that traceable or would be known then someone would really be doing their best on not to be caught up. I agree that if we are really that been wary about government shitty management of these taxes would really be giving out that kind of impression on which you would really be mainly doing such option.

Its not really bad on general sense but we know on what taxes are and what are the main functions of it specifically on making a country do be developed.It is really just on the leaders who are really that behind of it.

[STT]

Its impossible to avoid all taxes that I know of, direct income tax maybe but to defer or avoid tax is almost normal for a business owner as they take losses and can write off profits against those losses across some years.    You will always be paying some kind of indirect tax or intervention by government in otherwise normal market pricing, sometimes its subsidy but overall government levies some burden on business which is a cost passed onto you.   Hence I would argue people are always taxed, only the Amish could try to argue otherwise perhaps.

[Noctis Connor]

Its not bad if you managed to avoid taxes but still paying taxes goes to your government which benefit your country for developing more structures and program. But you're missing out if you're not paying taxes because there's a tax return that you can get and the more you pay taxes the more taxes return to you I don't know if you're country has this but in my country we're getting a tax return yearly which is a huge help because you're expecting a large sum of money every year.

[YUriy1991]

Indeed, this situation is of course surprising because all items are sucked in and taxable, however, actually this is a global trend and it will be complicated if we relate it to the current situation of economic inequality.

Now, in several trading exchanges that already have trading operating permits from the government, tax items are also unavoidably included in it, for example, if users make crypto buying and selling transactions, transaction facilitation services (exchange) and transaction verification services (mining) whose value and they began to collect data and information needed by the authorities, one of which was the taxpayer number.

Yes. It seems that the government's role in terms of taxes is getting stricter, in particular, and it can't be avoided, I think.

[uswa56]

Indeed, this situation is of course surprising because all items are sucked in and taxable, however, actually this is a global trend and it will be complicated if we relate it to the current situation of economic inequality.

Now, in several trading exchanges that already have trading operating permits from the government, tax items are also unavoidably included in it, for example, if users make crypto buying and selling transactions, transaction facilitation services (exchange) and transaction verification services (mining) whose value and they began to collect data and information needed by the authorities, one of which was the taxpayer number.

Yes. It seems that the government's role in terms of taxes is getting stricter, in particular, and it can't be avoided, I think.

The government of a country certainly digs up information on the income of its residents very keenly to be taxable, that is a normal thing but I think if we trade or invest in crypto or have a lot of income from crypto trading that will definitely be taxed (if known) maybe we can still avoid it, now it's all back to each other, whether we comply with tax regulations or violate them.

As the Op asked, are we among the bad guys if we manage to avoid taxes, and personally I don't think so.

[Vaculin]

If we see it on the eyes of the law, tax evasion is a serious crime and anyone caught doing that will be punishable by the law. Although in reality paying high taxes may be unfair especially for those who are breadwinners and yet only receiving minimum wage amount, but since we are under the government so we should always abide with the rules and not to disobey it and create our own set of rules. So by deliberately avoiding paying the tax, I believe it will automatically make us the bad persons in the society.

[Peanutswar]

It's just a hypothetical question and says nothing about me. I decided to open thread with this question for a lot of reasons which I'll explain down below.

If you think about inflation, taxes and your salary at the same time, you'll understand how the government eats you alive. Let's start with the fact that იf you live in Europe and have a normal salary, you have to leave almost half of it in taxes. Then, when you want to go for shopping and buy something in store, including food, clothes, technics, etc, you have pay your taxes of those items with already taxed money. Then, the store owner has to pay taxes of the income his store generated. Distributors, who deliver things to these stores, have to pay taxes too. Then there are vehicle taxes, property taxes. So, absolutely everything is taxed and on top of that, our salary is taxed and even on top of that, we experience inflation. This is not fair!

There's always happen an export and import and we called this trading those items before get transferred to the particular place there's already a tax given into it so when you came from the store the things you would like to buy already have a taxes so in that case you cant avoid the tax, unless you will go through the main branch of the item you would like and buy this into them so you don't get too much tax value because there's no transport happen but this is hassle right, reason why you are paying is for the convenience. AFAIK large properties have taxes too and there's a way to prevent this by helping to the community.

[edy_58]

If we see it on the eyes of the law, tax evasion is a serious crime and anyone caught doing that will be punishable by the law. Although in reality paying high taxes may be unfair especially for those who are breadwinners and yet only receiving minimum wage amount, but since we are under the government so we should always abide with the rules and not to disobey it and create our own set of rules. So by deliberately avoiding paying the tax, I believe it will automatically make us the bad persons in the society.

You are right, if we take action to avoid taxes, then we can be said to be people who have violated the rules set by the government, but if they have paid taxes and they are people who have a minimum income as you say, then it can be said that they have a sense of responsibility as a good citizen. I think those who deliberately evade taxes are those who have no responsibility to themselves.

[slapper]

Well, look, money is not really a moral thing is more a matter of politics. In essence taxes are a money the government takes from you and spends in something. Now, politics is deciding what that is. In civilized countries that means that some groups of people will receive more than others.

So, it is a question of deciding if you are ok giving your money to "the collective" or you are ok trying to not do so. Is it more moral to pay?

Yes, I agree to that and paying taxes is not a benchmark for whether we will be moral or not, and I don't even trust the government that the tax money I have given will be managed properly.
It all depends on myself and even if I can avoid taxes, I will continue to do so and I don't consider it a crime, in fact many people in government who commit fraud on the tax money they receive is a real crime.

Even seeing those corrupt officials using our money and getting rich makes me want to evade taxes more, but again, law is law, and I don't have a choice but to pay tax. Let's hope that it will be managed well, even though deep inside of us it won't and will go to the wallets of those corrupt politicians. Also, we know right now that there are rich people who aren't paying taxes, which makes us wonder how they do it, and that is the most unfair part of why they are not paying taxes or only paying less taxes than us.

Lets say you are evading tax on other means but if you are working on a government firm then for sure those salary of yours is already that automatically deducted and same goes when you are buying up something

like goods or services then you are still paying up tax into that on which it is really just that cant be avoided that you would really be the ones that paying up those taxes and its something that would be part of day to day living. There are really just some areas on which we do really tend to evade out on other means and as long it wont really be that traceable or would be known then someone would really be doing their best on not to be caught up. I agree that if we are really that been wary about government shitty management of these taxes would really be giving out that kind of impression on which you would really be mainly doing such option.

Its not really bad on general sense but we know on what taxes are and what are the main functions of it specifically on making a country do be developed.It is really just on the leaders who are really that behind of it.

Your concern about evasion in certain areas, and also the concern about the government's, um, "shitty management" is duly noted, certainly.

However, one must, perhaps, consider the fact that - taxes are, at their core, not always so much something that can be, let's say, categorized as good or bad. As for your comments on the leaders being behind it, yes, but what if the leaders were actually ahead of it? Would that change the way things... happen? In general, it really is something to think about, this whole tax thing, you know?

[Maslate]

So, my legitimate question is, after all the robbery, a person, who doesn't pay taxes, is a bad person for the society or not? More likely I want to get answer from those whose countries have a model similar of European healthcare and employment insurance.

Yes, not paying taxes is illegal. If people do not pay taxes, the government's stability would be compromised. Let's not forget that taxes are the lifeblood of a country. We must acknowledge the reality that as employees, we cannot avoid paying taxes, as our income is readily visible and declared by our employers. Although everyone is required to pay taxes, business owners have a more advantageous position than employees. They can manipulate their financial records, avoiding detection for tax evasion, as long as they understand how to navigate the system.

In accounting principles, there's a concept known as tax avoidance, which is legal and mainly benefits companies, rather than employees.

Tax Avoidance Is a Legal Way to Limit Taxes; Tax Evasion Is Not

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax_avoidance.asp

[Woodie]

You can choose to think about it as being a bad or good person...and it won't help you. But think of it this way, when you pay your taxes, that money that the government gets as part of its revenue streams goes to helping the less privileged in the education, health sectors and generally also helps in building of infrastructure to beautify our cities and what not...it might look like you aren't a beneficiary in this, but trust me you do benefit one way or another!!

If we see it on the eyes of the law, tax evasion is a serious crime and anyone caught doing that will be punishable by the law.

The ugly side of the law that doesn't care about one's reasons for not contributing to its tax revenue!

[Twentyonepaylots]

So, my legitimate question is, after all the robbery, a person, who doesn't pay taxes, is a bad person for the society or not? More likely I want to get answer from those whose countries have a model similar of European healthcare and employment insurance.

Yes, not paying taxes is illegal. If people do not pay taxes, the government's stability would be compromised. Let's not forget that taxes are the lifeblood of a country. We must acknowledge the reality that as employees, we cannot avoid paying taxes, as our income is readily visible and declared by our employers. Although everyone is required to pay taxes, business owners have a more advantageous position than employees. They can manipulate their financial records, avoiding detection for tax evasion, as long as they understand how to navigate the system.

In accounting principles, there's a concept known as tax avoidance, which is legal and mainly benefits companies, rather than employees.

Tax Avoidance Is a Legal Way to Limit Taxes; Tax Evasion Is Not

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax_avoidance.asp

In general, tax evasion is illegal and unethical. We may question why are mandated to Contribute to society with our own hard-earned money. Paying taxes is vital as it helps fund public services and infrastructure. While it may be tempting to avoid taxes, it is not a responsible or fair practice. To lessen the burden, there are what we call tax minimization strategies which are legal and allowable.

There is a fine line between tax evasion and tax minimization. Tax evasion is illegal and may charge corresponding fines and even imprisonment. While tax minimization is legal and can be done to take advantage of deductions and credits to reduce the amount of taxes owed. With this, you can stay on the right side of the law while maximizing your tax savings.

Here in our country, we can lessen our tax through charitable donations, applying dependents, and listing all the itemized deductions. You can also work with a qualified tax professional to determine the best strategies for your situation.