“Two things in life are for sure…. death plus taxes”
(Finlayson, Martin & Vinson, 2006). Before America was
on her own two feet the topic of taxes had already made
a splash…literally. The Boston Tea Party was all about
taxes plus was one of the key events leading to the
American Revolution. Unfortunately, taxes are not always easy to understand, and
few young people enter adulthood with a true understand of what taxes are, the
many different types of taxes that exist, how they are used, plus when plus how to pay
them.
What are Taxes?
The word tax is Latin for “I estimate” (Finance Maps of World, 2016). Modern
usage has shifted away from this definition, though many people would agree that the
tax system is so complicated that a certain amount of estimation is probably needed!
Today taxes are defined as an obligatory fee imposed on an increase of income or
property, or added to the biaya of goods or services. Taxes are often used to provide
public goods plus services that help a society create plus maintain a certain standard
of living. Roads, parks, public schools, city water, plus sewer systems are just a few
examples of public goods funded by taxes (Godfrey, 2013). In the United States pretty
much everyone pays taxes of some kind as part of having a job, owning a home, or
making purchases.
Why We Have Taxes
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the
privileges of membership in an organized society” (Finlayson, Martin & Vinson, 2006).
The government does its best to provide goods plus services that otherwise might not
exist, but in order to do this it has to find a way to pay for them. For this reason,
taxes were implemented. Through taxes, citizens essentially fund their own public
goods. For example, a new road complete with street lamps, sign posts, plus ongoing
maintenance provide a benefit to those who live on that road plus who use it to get to
work, the doctor’s office, the store, or to see friends. We may never know when we’ll
need that road, but when we do, it’s ready for us to use. Unfortunately it’s not very
fun to pay taxes, especially when the government uses tax funds in ways we don’t
like. But, if we all simply stopped contributing to public goods through taxes, many of
the daily conveniences we now enjoy plus take for granted as part of Roosevelt’s
“organized society,” would disappear.