Is taxation theft?

[RockBell]

Tax is not a theft, the intention for the collection of tax is solely on on giving back to the society on terms of development and infrastructures, if the government are indeed being honest in the way of development to the community and are ready to work and give all it demands for them to help the people, every citizen will be happy and interested in paying thwur tax since they are conscious of what the government are capable of doing in return for them.

Taxation was initiated by government to initiate projects and give back to the society what they have taking from them and government needs money for running projects in the society and it was actually a good idea from the government to be able to help the society because with the government things can not be organized and government is their to maintain orderliness in the society. But if you look at the initiative is good. And in some society you see projects that have been done starting from borehole and other little projects. And community clinics. But gradually they don't longer follow the order and they will be waiting for support from other bodies and they still continue to collect money from people. And the government will make sure that people pay their tax and what angers me is that the government is always spending money and nothing serious is still going on because their is a lot of community's that are still lacking and they need serious support, and they are still taxing them i just hope things get better.

[STT]

Without government, any country would turn chaotic, or perhaps more chaotic

Tax and some level of governance would continue anyway, total anarchy is unlikely.   What immediately could happen is a more local system level, in Switzerland I think they have a city state type system.  They still pay taxes but its locally done, taxation, division and spending.

   Its probably no coincidence Switzerland doesnt spend a great deal on giant armies, the terrain has some involvement I think.   I read of one case where the head of a global company got paid so much, his taxes allowed the rest of his community/town to not require any contribution for a year or so.   He must have been popular at that point.

[lixer]

I think honestly taxation is not theft, I believe any functioning country needs to get their money out somewhere and part of the revenue needs to come from a relatively important percentage of the work of the people.
I don't have problems with taxes, as long as they are reasonable and are used to keep important things functioning, like hospitals and schools, not for the corrupt people of the government to steal all of it.
In my country, for example, the system of taxation is very primitive thus vital infrastruture is left to be lost to the time and the lack of funding.

If the state and the people can find an equilibrium in which nobody feels robbed, then it is fine.

I agree with your argument, even though the use of taxes is not optimal and not transparent, taxation is not theft because all the rules have been regulated in valid laws, but tax management is not in accordance with what is expected to build infrastructure and services to the community, many tax officials are proven to have committed corruption and several officials using state funds for personal needs. So the government should emphasize the death penalty to imprison tax corruptors because they have enslaved people to work and cut people's income to pay taxes.

Specially in many developing countries we are having too many things which are not working as they needed to be done with peoples are paying taxes, but they are having no incentives which they deserve, so this is surely theft in these countries. As mentioned we are having huge personal incentives for the tax department peoples which are also not justifying things like these so they needed to have stick rules for these things but no one caring about common peoples because many politicians are also involved.

If we have some transparency then surely we can achieve many good things for many countries which are not possible right now with life and development could be also have improved, but we need things which are not happening for decades.

[Yatsan]

I think honestly taxation is not theft, I believe any functioning country needs to get their money out somewhere and part of the revenue needs to come from a relatively important percentage of the work of the people.
I don't have problems with taxes, as long as they are reasonable and are used to keep important things functioning, like hospitals and schools, not for the corrupt people of the government to steal all of it.
In my country, for example, the system of taxation is very primitive thus vital infrastruture is left to be lost to the time and the lack of funding.

If the state and the people can find an equilibrium in which nobody feels robbed, then it is fine.

I agree with your argument, even though the use of taxes is not optimal and not transparent, taxation is not theft because all the rules have been regulated in valid laws, but tax management is not in accordance with what is expected to build infrastructure and services to the community, many tax officials are proven to have committed corruption and several officials using state funds for personal needs. So the government should emphasize the death penalty to imprison tax corruptors because they have enslaved people to work and cut people's income to pay taxes.

Specially in many developing countries we are having too many things which are not working as they needed to be done with peoples are paying taxes, but they are having no incentives which they deserve, so this is surely theft in these countries. As mentioned we are having huge personal incentives for the tax department peoples which are also not justifying things like these so they needed to have stick rules for these things but no one caring about common peoples because many politicians are also involved.

If we have some transparency then surely we can achieve many good things for many countries which are not possible right now with life and development could be also have improved, but we need things which are not happening for decades.

Taxation as a process of wealth distribution is not a form of theft however, misuse of the money is, and that's not only falling under theft but corruption, meaning widely implemented. Not a new thing indeed especially with third world countries. Unfortunately, these countries are high higher taxes than with developed ones but the implementation or seggregation of money isn't usally done properly because personal interest from corrupt leaders do exist.

Transparency isn't something they would honestly do I guess because corruption is a collaborative motive from corrupt memebers of the government. Quite sad to think that this is becoming a norm with many administrations over decades.

[Juse14]

If the taxes applied are considered irrational and excessive, in my opinion it constitutes theft, more precisely legal theft. However, even though sometimes we feel burdened by these taxes, we still cannot refuse not to pay taxes. Because taxes are coercive.

Taxes do have an important role in increasing the income of a region or country, which will later be used for the construction of public facilities. However, it is very unfortunate that if the tax results are applied to every sector, the benefits of the tax itself are still not felt by society at large. So it is quite natural that some of them feel unwilling to pay taxes. Not to mention the addition of corruption cases that often occur in the government realm, which can make someone even more lazy and reluctant to pay taxes. But once again, we cannot refuse to pay taxes, because otherwise we might be subject to fines or be entangled by the applicable regulations.

[Elhindinho]

If the taxes applied are considered irrational and excessive, in my opinion it constitutes theft, more precisely legal theft. However, even though sometimes we feel burdened by these taxes, we still cannot refuse not to pay taxes. Because taxes are coercive.

Taxes do have an important role in increasing the income of a region or country, which will later be used for the construction of public facilities. However, it is very unfortunate that if the tax results are applied to every sector, the benefits of the tax itself are still not felt by society at large. So it is quite natural that some of them feel unwilling to pay taxes. Not to mention the addition of corruption cases that often occur in the government realm, which can make someone even more lazy and reluctant to pay taxes. But once again, we cannot refuse to pay taxes, because otherwise we might be subject to fines or be entangled by the applicable regulations.

It is common that there are always discussions and tensions between the necessity of taxes and the frustration with how they are sometimes used. Taxes would be felt like legalized theft if those are prevailed with Irrational or excessive obligations. Taxes are supposed to fund public services that benefit the populace of the country. There are common concern about the benefits of taxes when those aren't felt or when corruption diverts funds. Commonly people desire to avoid burdens, and taxes can certainly feel like a burden, this is why resentment is fueled when there are potential corruptions. It's impossible to refuse taxes entirely, but people can advocate for tax reform to increase transparency in government spending.

[franky1]

oh good old blackhat misinforming as usual

when citizens vote they choose who manages the country whom determines how laws and policy is made
people AGREE and consent to be managed which comes with costs, people agree that some situations of life are not assured and so they agree that some representatives of the masses can organise such funds to the distribute to the services/functions that are needed which individuals cant do for themselves.

so tax is not theft when its part of the law that had been agreed to by the representatives the majority consented to

sometimes changes in tax laws or expenditure policy can negative affect the masses. but thats where people petition their government for change that benefits the masses, or vote a new governing body into power who pledge to change laws for the benefit of the masses

i personally think that alot of the tax which treasuries manage get wasted and we should petition governments to economise and organise funds better, but that does not mean taxation is illegal when there are many many many laws actually legalised it over centuries. so its not theft, just irresponsibly managed/spent

From the definition, a tax is a legal fee paid to the government by firms and individuals to fund activities for public goods, like the construction of roads. We are made to believe it's for our good, which may be true, although economic hardship is on the rise but we move regardless.

So, tax may be debated as theft when hard-working citizens have to pay ridiculous amounts for things that don't make sense, or when the tax fee is increased within a short period. However, since it's a legal fixed fee, one shouldn't bother too much about it being theft or not, but rather focus on making enough money not to notice the tax rate.

for me taxation is not illegal as its the whole purpose of government. we voted to create government to service us as a collective and individually based on those in need, which its services come at costs..
much like a gym or a management company. we become members of a gym or hire a management company to run our day to day services so we have to pay that bill/membership

however yes when the government abuse their authority when they spend funds on things that dont benefit the users and then charge those users even more due to the wastage.. then its the government thats not fit for purpose and needs to reform. where by it can reform its expenditure plans and thus not require to raise taxes, and instead decrease the tax expectations

its not so much the tax, its more so the treasury budget/plans which is the problem.. fix the spending plan, to relax the taxation (utopian dream as we know governments wont do that)

[btc78]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit. I also think the system itself needs a refix to make it fairer and better but the point stil stands. There are so many corruption inside the system and the poor is suffering. Meanwhile the rich people can just avoid taxation with no repercussions. Now that is theft.

[Lucius]

Paying taxes is something that civilizations were built on, and I think that politicians and those who manage them know this very well and skillfully use it in order to have control over people and provide themselves with a "legitimate" source of income.

I will say that I have no problem paying taxes that will be used to improve the health system, build schools and kindergartens, homes for the elderly or something else that contributes to society - but for someone who lives in an extremely corrupt country where every now and then a new scandal breaks out about embezzlement of state money, I don't feel at all comfortable paying taxes.

The solution is of course not to stop paying taxes because that is actually impossible even if you are unemployed and trying to live under the radar - because there is something called value added tax where you pay tax every time you buy something and I have always considered that literally theft since the state first taxes my salary, then it takes 20% + extra every time I buy something.

I believe that part of the tax is somewhat justified, while one part is certainly not - and if I could somehow avoid the part that I consider unfair, I would gladly do so.

[Richbased]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit. I also think the system itself needs a refix to make it fairer and better but the point stil stands. There are so many corruption inside the system and the poor is suffering.

Taxation is important towards the development of a nation if it done without bias but it is very unfortunate that most government now are not regulating the system well and even the revenues that are being generated from taxation are not properly managed which makes most people have the feelings that taxation is a kinda fraud that the government imposes on people just to embezzle public generated funds.

Meanwhile the rich people can just avoid taxation with no repercussions. Now that is theft.

I don't completely agree that the rich people avoids taxation because they are even the ones that are more worried about paying taxes because they know the charges that will be levelled against them if they try to absconds paying their taxes. We have have heard of past cases where influential people in the society where charged for not paying their taxes just like in the case of the Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and his father being convicted in 2016 for tax related charges in Spain so everyone is included in tax paying both the rich and the common man.

[EarnOnVictor]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit. I also think the system itself needs a refix to make it fairer and better but the point stil stands. There are so many corruption inside the system and the poor is suffering. Meanwhile the rich people can just avoid taxation with no repercussions. Now that is theft.

I love the first line point, but the subsequent ones are not without some errors as far as I am concerned. Fine, it's ugly behaviour for the government not to use the national wealth of the nation rightly but this can't be related to the tax itself but the bad behaviour of the government. So, it is the government you should call theives and not the context "tax" in all considerations.

Taxes and other government revenues means are the main sustenance of the nation, I wonder how the nation will look like if the government can't fulfil its local and international obligations for the shortage of money, they have to make people contribute. Some countries are so disadvantaged to the point that they do not have much lands and natural resourses, so if their government did not collect tax, what will the security, education and healthcare system be like, not to mention others.

[ndutndut]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit. I also think the system itself needs a refix to make it fairer and better but the point stil stands. There are so many corruption inside the system and the poor is suffering. Meanwhile the rich people can just avoid taxation with no repercussions. Now that is theft.

Yes, that's right. A country must have taxes in order to finance public interests, including economic development. It is also done so that many jobs are created, so that with many jobs, people's income can be distributed evenly. Not to mention infrastructure, health, and so on. So it is true as you said in community life it is very important for all of us to contribute to the progress of a country, especially society. In other words, the purpose of taxation is for the sustainability of a country and all development carried out for the welfare of society.

It's just that in many countries taxation has become a field for officials to commit corruption so that it is very far from the purpose of taxation itself. So it is not surprising that many people think that taxation is legalized theft. This is very reasonable to say because it is very sad that in almost all countries tax money is not used properly and as you said again many rich people avoid taxes and even officials do the same. Actually the purpose of tax is good, so taxes should be implemented according to their purpose and if they violate anyone's rights from the tax money, they should be imprisoned or given severe punishment.

[Bloodseekers]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit. I also think the system itself needs a refix to make it fairer and better but the point stil stands. There are so many corruption inside the system and the poor is suffering. Meanwhile the rich people can just avoid taxation with no repercussions. Now that is theft.

Yes, that's right. A country must have taxes in order to finance public interests, including economic development. It is also done so that many jobs are created, so that with many jobs, people's income can be distributed evenly. Not to mention infrastructure, health, and so on. So it is true as you said in community life it is very important for all of us to contribute to the progress of a country, especially society. In other words, the purpose of taxation is for the sustainability of a country and all development carried out for the welfare of society.

It's just that in many countries taxation has become a field for officials to commit corruption so that it is very far from the purpose of taxation itself. So it is not surprising that many people think that taxation is legalized theft. This is very reasonable to say because it is very sad that in almost all countries tax money is not used properly and as you said again many rich people avoid taxes and even officials do the same. Actually the purpose of tax is good, so taxes should be implemented according to their purpose and if they violate anyone's rights from the tax money, they should be imprisoned or given severe punishment.

It is true that the money collected from taxes will be used for the public interest if it can be realized properly, but when officials do not use the money collected from taxes properly and appropriately, we can see many government services that are indeed not feasible because the money collected from taxes is not used properly, but if the money generated from taxes can be used properly, I think we can see a prosperous society because the government has allocated tax funds to things that are really needed by many people.

If a country does not have good tax management, it will certainly lose the trust of the community to pay it, but because the punishment given for violations committed by these officials is not carried out properly, it is very possible that they will easily commit violations and continue to take tax funds paid by the community for their own interests, so it would be better if law enforcement against officials who cannot use tax funds properly can be carried out properly so that the community can feel the benefits of the taxes they pay.

[Blackchully]

AI is a great gift to humanity but the creators of it also put out the notion and mindsets that terrifies us. Truly it improved a Lot for humans but the question is that is it worth it?….because of Ai originality and authenticity in a lot of things has dropped and that is a major problem that we overlook. The fact is it will keep getting modified and improvements on it will increase so will the creativity and thinking capabilities of those who excessively depend on it will also depreciate, it’s a give and take situation and a few years from now we don’t know what the situation will look like entirely, but to be very honest I don’t think it’s worth it.

[m2017]

"Is taxation theft?" - This looks more like robbery than theft, because if taxes are not paid, then "forceful action" will follow.

I also feel really stupid when I see politicians talking about taxing gains from cryptocurrencies, with phrases like "unhosted wallets", or by attacking privacy services. They talk as if privacy invasion is a requirement, or "obligation" as per the social contract theory. I think this really crosses the line.

Statements by politicians cross the line of reason when they try to squeeze money out of bitcoiners under any pretext.

[ml9999]

Some taxation is definitely justifiable, as ideally you pay taxes in exchange for government-provided security and services. If you say that the government can't take your money without consent, then logically you should not get to live in a country with secure borders without the government's express approval either. However, if abused, taxation can become theft, when governments use it to enrich themselves and consolidate wealth rather than to provide a basic functioning society.

[philipma1957]

"Is taxation theft?" - This looks more like robbery than theft, because if taxes are not paid, then "forceful action" will follow.

I also feel really stupid when I see politicians talking about taxing gains from cryptocurrencies, with phrases like "unhosted wallets", or by attacking privacy services. They talk as if privacy invasion is a requirement, or "obligation" as per the social contract theory. I think this really crosses the line.

Statements by politicians cross the line of reason when they try to squeeze money out of bitcoiners under any pretext.

in the usa property tax is based on the concept of extortion and protection rackets.

you got a nice place we will protect it for you (police and firemen)

but if you don't pay for the protection we will take it from you (extortion)

other taxes are different.

[JeffBrad12]

Some taxation is definitely justifiable, as ideally you pay taxes in exchange for government-provided security and services. If you say that the government can't take your money without consent, then logically you should not get to live in a country with secure borders without the government's express approval either. However, if abused, taxation can become theft, when governments use it to enrich themselves and consolidate wealth rather than to provide a basic functioning society.

a good take, I personally have no problem at all paying taxes if I know the taxes I paid used for betterment of the country, but when it's just being misused, some part of me feels disappointed, well nothing I can do about it, just gonna pay the next taxes, as a good law abiding citizen, but personally, I guess with how all the infrastructure that have been built I guess paying taxes still feels okay and not exactly theft.

really hopeful that government around the world could always utilize the taxes for good thing like social welfare, universal insurance and so on, lessen the burden of the law abiding citizen.

[Yucky]

We are a community so I think yes we all should contribute to the betterment of the society.

Taxation is only theft if it is used by government officials for their own personal benefit.

I agree with you. Since the aim of tax is for the general good, for infrastructure, and education, more like we are giving back to society since you are part of the society, it's not theft. Besides, tax is not taken from students or those who are not working. It's when you get into a system where you earn monthly income that you are shortlisted for paying tax. As long as tax is being paid according to how you earn, then it's okay to just let it slide.

The only issue is when you are paying tax and you are not seeing the effect of the tax that you are paying. Roads are bad, schools are terrible, and insecurity everywhere. That's the issue. The issue is how the tax is being handled by those in government. The issue is government officials looting the tax.

So to me, it's not theft. Some of us pay tithe in our place of worship, and we do some personal projects for our personal reasons as a way of giving back to the community. Some people have charity organizations. So giving back to the country where you stay and earn is not theft.
But how it's being handled by those you trust with your tax.

[Mame89]

Taxes can indeed be called theft if not managed properly by a country, but taxes are also something good for a country if used properly because there are many benefits if you pay them. Because of course with tax money the country uses it to finance various services funded by the community, including the armed forces, public schools, parks, highways, and police and even firefighters, as well as pension and public health programs.

So the benefits of taxes are actually good from the people's money being used back for the people, it is no wonder that many countries with the highest taxes are more advanced and prosperous than countries with low taxes. Simply put, with the taxes given, the country becomes strong and with taxes the country can stand strong.

It's just that sometimes there are corrupt officials or government agencies who embezzle tax money which makes people reluctant to pay taxes and that happens in many countries, and every country is firm that if you don't pay taxes then there will be criminal sanctions for breaking the law. I personally don't consider taxes as theft because basically taxes are for those of us who enjoy them such as public facilities, transportation and others.