Obeying government rules, paying taxes and elefant in the room

[rnd]

"You have to pay taxes and refrain from cheating the system ".

I think Leo, whenever he claims this, forgets to address an issue with paying taxes and obeying rules of the goverment. An issue is that most, if not all, governments are corrupt and therefore, my taxes, at least partially, go to the pocket of the ones who need them the most - fat, rich and corrupt politicians. And even if one pays taxes, what do some governments do? They constantly change the rules. Recently they, if not put it in place already, proposed to change the tax rules such that the people who visited and stayed California for over 2-3 months, I think, for the last 10 years, would be taxed. Retroactively.

"You've already paid the taxes? Good, but now that's not enough because - ahahahaha - we've  just changed the rules! Now you have to pay again!"

And there're other similar examples like this.

And also, not all taxes are created equal, for there're various different tax rates in all the countries, and various taxes themselves. If some countries can live with low taxes, why others can't? Because the politicians of the former ones have bigger appetite. The ordinary people have to pay for their appetite?

Therefore, simply calling on to pay taxes is naive.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by rnd

[Preety_India]

It's also what they do with the taxes 

 

If we're responsible for paying taxes, they are equally responsible for disclosing what they do with those taxes. 

Responsibility and accountability cannot be a one way street 

 

[roopepa]

26 minutes ago, rnd said:

"You have to pay taxes and refrain from cheating the system ".

I think Leo, whenever he claims this, forgets to address an issue with paying taxes and obeying rules of the goverment. An issue is that most, if not all, governments are corrupt and therefore, my taxes, at least partially, go to the pocket of the ones who need them the most - fat, rich and corrupt politicians. And even if one pays taxes, what do some governments do? They constantly change the rules. Recently they, if not put it in place already, proposed to change the tax rules such that the people who visited and stayed California for over 2-3 months, I think, for the last 10 years, would be taxed.

You're just deluding yourself into thinking your selfish cheating is some kind of a loving rebellion.

If you care about corruption, go and help to change the system. There is a system established via taxing, called democratic election, that you can most easily use to be the change. Not paying taxes and crying at some forum won't do shit.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by roopepa

[rnd]

22 hours ago, roopepa said:

If you care about corruption, go and help to change the system. There is a system established via taxing, called democratic election, that you can most easily use to be the change. Not paying taxes and crying at some forum won't do shit.

You haven't understood. Firstly, I don't imply  "not to pay taxes".

Rather - "don't pay them blidly, to the governments that always screw up, spend money like crazy, then print them like crazy, steal them, then introduce new rules, regulations and raise taxes to make up for their own stupidity and corruption"

Edited March 8, 2021 by rnd

[aurum]

@rnd

Not paying your taxes is not a solution to corrupt politicians.

If anything, it's the opposite. What's one of the causes of corrupt politicians? Wealth inequality. Wealthy people have so much money they can buy politicians easily. And what's one of the ways you get wealthy inequality? Wealthy people not paying their taxes.

The two go hand in hand.

Huge amounts of government revenue is lost every year from wealthy people dodging taxes. Which puts the government constantly in a bind.

Theoretically, maybe we actually could have lower tax rates. If people didn't dodge taxes in the first place. But they do, and so the government has to raise the rates on taxes that already exist.

Your taxes do not go towards lining the pockets of politicians. Perhaps some salary comes from your taxes, but the majority of it goes to the social services everyone relies on. What's lining politicians pockets is private campaign donors, lobbying, etc.

[Apparition of Jack]

@rnd Most corporations are more corrupt than than the government and yet you don’t seem to have a problem giving money to corporations. Why is that? 

[Danioover9000]

@rnd

7 hours ago, rnd said:

"You have to pay taxes and refrain from cheating the system ".

I think Leo, whenever he claims this, forgets to address an issue with paying taxes and obeying rules of the goverment. An issue is that most, if not all, governments are corrupt and therefore, my taxes, at least partially, go to the pocket of the ones who need them the most - fat, rich and corrupt politicians. And even if one pays taxes, what do some governments do? They constantly change the rules. Recently they, if not put it in place already, proposed to change the tax rules such that the people who visited and stayed California for over 2-3 months, I think, for the last 10 years, would be taxed. Retroactively.

"You've already paid the taxes? Good, but now that's not enough because - ahahahaha - we've  just changed the rules! Now you have to pay again!"

And there're other similar examples like this.

And also, not all taxes are created equal, for there're various different tax rates in all the countries, and various taxes themselves. If some countries can live with low taxes, why others can't? Because the politicians of the former ones have bigger appetite. The ordinary people have to pay for their appetite?

Therefore, simply calling on to pay taxes is naive.

 

   Do you mean when government raises the tax rate across the population, regardless of income and wealth? I could see the problem if that's what you meant.

[rnd]

18 hours ago, Apparition of Jack said:

Most corporations are more corrupt than than the government and yet you don’t seem to have a problem giving money to corporations. Why is that? 

What makes you conclude that "I don't seem to have a problem giving money to corporations"?

[rnd]

18 hours ago, aurum said:

If anything, it's the opposite. What's one of the causes of corrupt politicians? Wealth inequality. Wealthy people have so much money they can buy politicians easily. And what's one of the ways you get wealthy inequality? Wealthy people not paying their taxes.

The two go hand in hand.

Do you propose that the low and middle income classes to pay even more taxes, or least pay always, without argument, to compensate for the corrupt upper class which either doesn't pay taxes, or pay lower than they have to? Brilliant.

Edited March 8, 2021 by rnd

[Leo Gura]

@rnd Okay, don't pay your taxes.

Wesley Snipes style

[aurum]

4 hours ago, rnd said:

Do you propose that the low and middle income classes to pay even more taxes, or least pay always, without argument, to compensate for the corrupt upper class which either doesn't pay taxes, or pay lower than they have to? Brilliant.

That is literally the opposite of what I said.

If anything I would like to see lower tax rates for low / middle income classes and higher tax rates on the upper class.

[Snader]

Yeah, politics and economics are difficult and for sure there are lots of stuff that should be changed to make the system more fair and equally functional.

Best you can do to change the system for the better is to raise your own consciousness and understanding to really see the complexity in the system with all it's sub-systems, and that way start making wise decisions to enhance the system, e.g. voting for the best politicians in that regard.

Think about all the good stuff government has provided you with. All the corruption and misuse of resources are the cost for that and it's a good start to be aware that those costs exist, as they can be minimized through consciousness.

[JosephKnecht]

On 3/7/2021 at 1:14 PM, rnd said:

I think Leo, whenever he claims this, forgets to address an issue with paying taxes and obeying rules of the goverment. An issue is that most, if not all, governments are corrupt and therefore, my taxes, at least partially, go to the pocket of the ones who need them the most - fat, rich and corrupt politicians. And even if one pays taxes, what do some governments do? They constantly change the rules. Recently they, if not put it in place already, proposed to change the tax rules such that the people who visited and stayed California for over 2-3 months, I think, for the last 10 years, would be taxed. Retroactively.

The taxes that you pay doesn't go to the current politicians, but the wise people of the past that have created the proper governance structure that allows you to have a business. Think of it as incurred debt to the people of the past that have tried to create the laws that guard the societal system.

Most of the people that work in government are good, honorable people that want to serve the public. The corrupt ones are few. So don't be discouraged and pay what is due.