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

[Mame89]

Talking about taxes is indeed a dilemma, on the one hand taxes are for the development of the country, but on the other hand there are people who use them for personal gain, such as corruption. not paying taxes, complicating our problems and of course breaking the law. So do not be surprised if in my country there are so many people who avoid taxes. Most people in my country who are on a moderate income want to look rich, while the really rich want to look poor to avoid taxes.

The tax order is actually not a difficult thing, even if the tax for the rich is up to 35%, if the tax is really used for the benefit of the state, it's just that why do people lack discipline in paying taxes because they are worried that it will be used to enrich tax officers not for the benefit of country. I think this should be fixed in every country for taxes to be used in the right way to develop the country.

[Wimex]

If no one is paying taxes, that could affect the economy. Tax is important. You do not have to evade tax, pay your tax.

I think ops have a valid point,  even though the government need tax to fund capital expenses,  this is a clear indication of over-taxation because, from the ops point of view,  there is no justification to pay income tax as a salary earner because, at the back door, you still pay value added tax on your expenses and necessities.

The government have indeed robbed the citizens in multiple ways,  just as we have tax invaders as citizens the same way we have tax robbers from the government and its agents who impose multiple taxes on citizens.

Your comment has a very important and true point, governments instead of worrying about solving the salary problem and the excessive increase in inflation to create a balance, they prefer to deal with something else.. such as finishing screwing over the people, increasing the taxes even knowing that what each citizen earns is not enough, that is the kind of rulers that you have in most countries, especially in Latin America, and it is really because of this type of situation that people see themselves forced to carry out these types of acts, it is known that taxes help with the economy of a country, but if in reality these go to the clutches of thieves, i doubt very much that something is being contributed, so i think it is difficult to judge When a person is forced to do that kind of thing, it may be a crime, but i don't consider it that serious, as long as the circumstances warrant it

[xSkylarx]

If no one is paying taxes, that could affect the economy. Tax is important. You do not have to evade tax, pay your tax.

I think ops have a valid point,  even though the government need tax to fund capital expenses,  this is a clear indication of over-taxation because, from the ops point of view,  there is no justification to pay income tax as a salary earner because, at the back door, you still pay value added tax on your expenses and necessities.

The government have indeed robbed the citizens in multiple ways,  just as we have tax invaders as citizens the same way we have tax robbers from the government and its agents who impose multiple taxes on citizens.

Your comment has a very important and true point, governments instead of worrying about solving the salary problem and the excessive increase in inflation to create a balance, they prefer to deal with something else.. such as finishing screwing over the people, increasing the taxes even knowing that what each citizen earns is not enough, that is the kind of rulers that you have in most countries, especially in Latin America, and it is really because of this type of situation that people see themselves forced to carry out these types of acts, it is known that taxes help with the economy of a country, but if in reality these go to the clutches of thieves, i doubt very much that something is being contributed, so i think it is difficult to judge When a person is forced to do that kind of thing, it may be a crime, but i don't consider it that serious, as long as the circumstances warrant it

Government for sure heard what people wanted, like an increase in salary or the minimum wage, but government doesn't give a damn on this as they prefer those businesses are in a good situation. Those employees want an increase, and the business owners will say they can't cope, and after that, government will say that it is difficult as business owners will go bankrupt, meaning they can pay taxes, even though the economy is starting to be good. Right now, it is better to do it on your own, like find multiple jobs or a side hustle, so that you can still cope with the inflation.

[bussybuddy]

if everyone evaded taxes, then the state would have difficulty with financial resources and basic services such as health, education and security could be seriously affected.

That is why we need proper consideration and control in tax setting and administration. Too high a tax increase or too wide a tax range can cause inequality or affect the economic situation. This requires wisdom and smart intervention to maintain balance in the tax system.

And yes, the electoral process and the accountability of government and officials play an important role. Transparency and compliance with the law in financial and tax management are extremely important.

[AicecreaME]

I don't how you're going to avoid all of your taxes, but you'll get exposed soon and you won't like what's waiting for you.

Avoiding your taxes isn't the solution to battle inflation, you might save some money but you're still going to spend it on buying the things you need and wants and that's still consider as paying taxes. But to answer the your question, yes, you're a bad person if you're avoiding some of your taxes, whether it's every month or every year.

[justdimin]

I don't how you're going to avoid all of your taxes, but you'll get exposed soon and you won't like what's waiting for you.

Avoiding your taxes isn't the solution to battle inflation, you might save some money but you're still going to spend it on buying the things you need and wants and that's still consider as paying taxes. But to answer the your question, yes, you're a bad person if you're avoiding some of your taxes, whether it's every month or every year.

This must be the problem with avoiding taxes, it is not just a moral question to be asked, and even though that plays a part in this, it's also a financially bad decision as well. If you avoid paying taxes and then you are caught avoiding it, then you are going to end up being punished a lot harder. In my nation, it is 300% of what you owe as a punishment, so let's assume that you avoided 10k dollars of taxes, and you didn't pay it, and you went about your day like nothing happened, if they ever catch you, then you need to pay 30k dollars instead.

That's not a smart decision, I would rather pay the tax and avoid any punishment and just be done with it. I would have to be in a life or death situation to avoid it, not for moral reasons, but because I rather not have the punishment.

[Bushdark]

First of all you need to know what you are trying or committing is evading tax not avoiding so in that case evading is legally crime and you will face legal consequences.

Avoiding tax is something you can do to reduce the tax amount but not breaking any laws of your country which is only possible if you're doing a business not possible when you are a salaried person.

Whether it is called tax evading or a synchronized name, people are suffering and the government need to do something about it or else things are going to get lost. I don't even blame anybody when they don't pay there task at any extend becau6tge government are really eating us up gradually and no one is talking about it.

 The government will give you money and collect it back without you knowing times 5 and when you don't give it to them, they will come after you that you are evading tax with bigger consequences. When we talk about tax, there are some part of Europe that will keep frustrating you to pay tax when you add earning less or not. I see the tax system as a way to get funds back to the government without deliberately forcing you. When you don't pay , you can be prosecuted in the most absurd way.

[jrrsparkles]

First of all you need to know what you are trying or committing is evading tax not avoiding so in that case evading is legally crime and you will face legal consequences.

Avoiding tax is something you can do to reduce the tax amount but not breaking any laws of your country which is only possible if you're doing a business not possible when you are a salaried person.

Whether it is called tax evading or a synchronized name, people are suffering and the government need to do something about it or else things are going to get lost. I don't even blame anybody when they don't pay there task at any extend becau6tge government are really eating us up gradually and no one is talking about it.

 The government will give you money and collect it back without you knowing times 5 and when you don't give it to them, they will come after you that you are evading tax with bigger consequences. When we talk about tax, there are some part of Europe that will keep frustrating you to pay tax when you add earning less or not. I see the tax system as a way to get funds back to the government without deliberately forcing you. When you don't pay , you can be prosecuted in the most absurd way.

Government may even do more than that lets take North Korea for the example so if you think the whole system is wrong the giving efforts to make a change is the right thing to do instead of compelling not to pay. There is no disagreement with the fact that governments designed the tax system favorable for rich but atleast they can make it near to fair if people can make them to do it.

[Pejoh Asu]

In my country almost all transactions must pay taxes, even the government is making rules for small restaurant businesses with a turnover of just under $ 20k then you have to pay taxes, officers are always active around places or shops on the side of the road and give rules if you avoid tax will be applied fines up to prison.

[Lorence.xD]

In my country almost all transactions must pay taxes, even the government is making rules for small restaurant businesses with a turnover of just under $ 20k then you have to pay taxes, officers are always active around places or shops on the side of the road and give rules if you avoid tax will be applied fines up to prison.

I don't know, here in my country where everything is also same as you said. Everything has taxes, they would like to put any transactions as possible to apply taxes, so what could be the reason? Of course, corruption. With those taxes, lot of taxes they could easily rob fund of the country for their own comfort. Evading tax is literally could get you to jail, but if you are doing it like in the crypto, they can't arrest you for it since crypto is decentralized and not controlled by the government. I think this would only apply to any businesses especially the big one that are not registered plus doesn't contributing tax for the country. And some people could also evade tax from their own salary especially if you are in the higher position since you have the power to manipulate things that could evade taxes. So they can have their full income with the deduction of taxes which is actually huge if you salary income is high.

[bittraffic]

In my country almost all transactions must pay taxes, even the government is making rules for small restaurant businesses with a turnover of just under $ 20k then you have to pay taxes, officers are always active around places or shops on the side of the road and give rules if you avoid tax will be applied fines up to prison.

I don't know, here in my country where everything is also same as you said. Everything has taxes, they would like to put any transactions as possible to apply taxes, so what could be the reason? Of course, corruption. With those taxes, lot of taxes they could easily rob fund of the country for their own comfort. Evading tax is literally could get you to jail, but if you are doing it like in the crypto, they can't arrest you for it since crypto is decentralized and not controlled by the government. I think this would only apply to any businesses especially the big one that are not registered plus doesn't contributing tax for the country. And some people could also evade tax from their own salary especially if you are in the higher position since you have the power to manipulate things that could evade taxes. So they can have their full income with the deduction of taxes which is actually huge if you salary income is high.

You will still be taxed for the things you buy but that's just it. I think it also varies to the crypto regulation of your government. Most countries follow what the US is doing and the one that is somehow obvious is that if the SEC of your country considers crypto to be securities, then you'll be taxed. The US SEC as far as I know already suggests the tokens we earned from staking may also be taxed.

So thats something that is worrisome. What the US government will do may also be implemented in our country.

[Comingdown]

I am in Southeast Asia and I think our countries have the same model when it comes to taxes. Employees who are working for registered companies here do not have a choice but to pay their taxes, as it has already been deducted from their salary before they even receive it. Then, when you buy anything, you'll have to pay for VAT again. You also have to pay taxes for your assets.

I guess freelancers can easily avoid paying income taxes. When my friend left her regular job and opted to work remotely for an international company based in the US, she received the full amount of her salary (without tax deductions). It's now up to her if she will file her taxes or she can just not declare it. Legally speaking, she has to do it because it'll be a crime if she doesn't, but she can also easily avoid paying since the company is not a registered entity here in our country. This may be a good example of how one is able to avoid paying taxes.

If you're feeling wronged due to the amount of taxes that the government is taking from you, your feeling is valid. It can really be frustrating. However, you must think long term. In our case, it'll also be us who'll suffer in the future if we don't file our taxes accordingly. The Certification for Income Tax Withheld comes a long way because it is a requirement for a lot of things - when you want to get a VISA, when you want to apply for a bank loan, when you want to get a new house, or even for a phone plan.

I won't say that you're a bad person if you manage to avoid your taxes, but it'll have a bad implication for you in the future.

[Russlenat]

Legally if we are avoiding taxes, we are a bad person since we are avoiding our responsibility to our country.  One proof that supports it is that the government can sue us of tax evasion and can be imprison because of that crime.

No matter what our reason for not paying taxes is, we cannot argue that we are committing a crime against our country.

Tax evasion is an illegal activity in which a person or entity deliberately avoids paying a true tax liability. Those caught evading taxes are generally subject to criminal charges and substantial penalties.

Whatever we do that is against the law of our country, that is building a bad character for us. No need to question it, because anyone that is trying to avoid the law will definitely be put in a position of illegal citizen. Much more if you are doing tax evasion. That is a serious offense and anyone who will be proven guilty for that will receive its proper sanction and might be subject for imprisonment if not resolved early. Whatever your intention of doing that, as long as you live under a country’s provision, you are obliged to follow, not to break its law.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Having business is in levels, we have a standard business and a small scale enterprise which are under developing business startups, if your business is established, registered and licensed then paying tax shouldn't be a burden as long as the business remains operational, however, there are some small medium scales and menial jobs we could do through our services without being taxed because they are what we do out of acquired skills and are added advantage to us.

[Viscore]

Certainly you are. Why would a good person do that? Once you become a legal resident of a country, you should know when to respect and follow rules and laws. And by simply avoiding paying your tax, just because you feel that you are being taken advantage and you are robbed off from your own hard-earned money, I believe the state will automatically see you as the worst character because instead of helping for the welfare of the country and its citizens, you chose to break it and make your own law instead.

[RockBell]

I don't how you're going to avoid all of your taxes, but you'll get exposed soon and you won't like what's waiting for you.

Avoiding your taxes isn't the solution to battle inflation, you might save some money but you're still going to spend it on buying the things you need and wants and that's still consider as paying taxes. But to answer the your question, yes, you're a bad person if you're avoiding some of your taxes, whether it's every month or every year.

And getting exposed comes with a lot of penalties, the offender will be charged to court and since his guilty he will have to pay and face the penalty and am still wondering how people escape taxes, I support the statement of not paying tax and feels it can help against inflation is a big lie and we should all do what is right, which paying our tax, since the money is supposed to be used for our own benefits and you can speak confidently any were about your full compliance of paying tax, I agree with everything you say not paying tax is actually a very bad habit and I think there should a kind of enforcement for people that don't pay. So that other will learn from that.

[dothebeats]

Certainly you are. Why would a good person do that? Once you become a legal resident of a country, you should know when to respect and follow rules and laws. And by simply avoiding paying your tax, just because you feel that you are being taken advantage and you are robbed off from your own hard-earned money, I believe the state will automatically see you as the worst character because instead of helping for the welfare of the country and its citizens, you chose to break it and make your own law instead.

Well, it honestly depends on what your definition of good is. Perhaps what he did is unlawful but is it necessarily bad if he was able to avoid it because the government was not being secured enough or smart enough with their system to detect who pays taxes and who doesn't? Is being selfish necessarily bad? If he chooses to keep his/her money rather than contribute it to the welfare of the country? See, OP used the term good which does not have a precise definition. Is his/her actions bad or it is the outcome of his/her action that makes OP bad? Well, of course, that is all philosophical and ethical talk. I guess the more proper term to state is unlawful. It is unlawful and selfish if OP avoids paying taxes.

[Mpamaegbu]

It's just a hypothetical question and says nothing about me.

Even if it does have something to do with you, no one will arrest or victimize you for saying your mind 😆.

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.

It's really a sad situation because it's purely over taxation. It's not just an European thing alone. It's ubiquitous with every government of the world. Anything to generate revenue gives them orgasm. Europe and the other saner continents are even lucky they get to feel what the revenue from the taxes they pay do for them. It's the reverse in Africa where most political leaders are purely in government to steal from their people. I wouldn't feel bad not paying tax at all. What for? When I know there are crooks waiting at the end of the line for my money so they can embezzle it.

If no one is paying tax, that could affect the economy. Tax is important. You do not have to evade tax, pay your tax.

Everyone pays taxes whether they like it or not through indirect taxation on goods and services. If government depends solely on income tax, it will lose big time because not everyone can be taxed that way.

[Pierre 2]

I guess there are two ways to avoid taxes. One is finding totally legal loopholes - which must be hard and only someone professional can do it. I don't think this is unethical honestly. If you follow legit ways its acceptable. But other is definitely illegal. I personally don't find it ethical. I always think about people that avoid taxes and feel like "why do I pay meanwhile they don't". But if everyone think similarly noone would pay taxes. We should not commit crimes so.

[Broly46]

Why do you open this thread to ask the opinions? Are you feeling bad about it too? If you feel bad about it, then do you expect us to think otherwise and give you the priviledge of doubts? Btw I know deep inside you, you are feeling uneasy, it is also the reason you feel compelled to open a thread like this. This is satrical reply.