Why do people hate taxes so much?
I understand that I might be young and still learning, so this question may seem naive to some, but I'm genuinely curious: Why do people complain so much about paying taxes? I know taxes are used to fund important services like schools and support for soldiers, but I often hear negative sentiments about them. When I receive my paycheck, I see that taxes are deducted, but I also know that I can get some of that money back during tax season. Are taxes really that bad, or is there more to the story? I hope I won't be judged for asking this, as I'm just trying to understand.
5 Answers
This isn’t a stupid question. How are you supposed to learn if you don’t ask?
“I know they’re taking taxes out but I get them back”
You realize that not everyone gets all of their taxes back, don’t you? Some of us pay a lot in taxes and we don’t get refunds.
In all, the government gets about 50% of my earnings (and keeps it). Think about that for a moment. I am the one who got an education. I am the one who gets up and goes to work every day. I put forth the intellect and the energy to earn the my money then I have to split it evenly with the government. Then with my half of my income, I still need to pay my mortgage, buy food and clothing, pay for transportation for work, pay for health care, pay for my utilities, save for retirement, etc.
In this free country, I can’t do anything without paying the government money. First, there’s federal taxes, then Social Security taxes, then Medicare taxes, State taxes, city taxes, property taxes (which equal $200 a month on my modest home), sales taxes, excise taxes, taxes on my gas, and taxes on my electric, water, cable, phone and internet bills. Then there are toll roads and toll bridges (another tax), fees (another name for taxes) for car registrations, boat registrations, dog licenses, hunting licenses, fishing licenses, etc. Then there are the “fees” that I have to pay my city government for permits (permission) to do things like build a deck or put up a fence.
Maybe this doesn’t seem like a lot to you. But it is for me. I still need some of my earnings left to pay to support myself. Each small tax or fee may not seem like much. But can you imagine adding it all together?
I don’t get my taxes refunded to me. Only low income people get that. If a low income person pays in $1,000 to taxes and then gets $1,000 refunded, they don’t actually shoulder any of the tax burden in our country. They end up paying for 0 amount of the services they use. There is also something called an EIC (earned income tax credit). This is a refundable tax credit that can allow a person’s tax bill to drop below 0. For example, a person can pay in $1,000 in taxes but due to the EIC they can receive a $2,000 “refund”. Basically, the government is making people like me pay in and giving the money to those people. They have chosen to have children and I have chosen not to have children. I pay and they get “refunds” that are essentially subsidies.
We all use public resources. Why can’t we all pay something in taxes? We all have the same freedoms. Why can’t we all have the same responsibilities regarding the percentage of our income that we pay to the government? Why do I have to be penalized because I work a lot of overtime (so I earn more money) and because I have chosen not to have children that I can’t afford?
Dec 20, 2024
It’s not a stupid question, although it is a broad one.
Some people just hate the government period. They don’t stop to consider the long-reaching goals of taxes; at the time, the fact of the matter (to them) is that the government is taking their money. And everybody would rather keep their money.
Other people might not like where their tax dollars go. there’s not much they can do about that besides vote, though.
Also, a lot of people don’t ‘see’ their tax dollars working specifically for them. When are /they/ ever going to go to that new thirty-million dollar community centre? When was the last time /they/ got a government handout? It’s basically about selfishness :3
Its taxation without representation that burns me up. whilst the government tells us “we could do regardless of”, and starts throwing my money away, its only like 1750 usa whilst the british walked in with weapons, took the taxes and informed us to close up or they had shoot us. What I DON”T like is one million.5 trillion thrown down a rathole in Iraq, 2 trillion thrown down a rathole to the crooked bankers, one million trillion thrown in each single place by using the “stimulus” invoice that only exceeded. What I DON”T like is 3.5 trillion lacking, unaccounted for, on the Pentagon, and no person is in reformatory. do no longer tell me taxes at this point are a “necessity”. there is somewhat no reason to have a private income tax. We, america, did no longer have one earlier 1914, and those have been the main rich a hundred and forty years this u . s . had. touching directly to your question: do you somewhat think of that he Bush administration diminished taxes? They raised taxes on all and sundry different than those residing off capital advantageous factors, the very, very wealthy. they did no longer decrease taxes, they simply moved them around so as that all and sundry however the very wealthy paid extra. yet that doesn’ tmake sturdy information for individuals like Rush Limbaugh.
Feb 12, 2025
Most people don’t mind paying some taxes. They mind when taxes get oppressive. They mind it when they are required to pay taxes but other people get all of their taxes refunded back to them.
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