Taxes
Think about it. Virtually every move you make is taxed. If you work, you a pay a tax for the privilege of earning a living. With a few exceptions, such as food, if you buy something, you pay a tax. Every time you put gas in your car, you pay a tax. If you own a home, you pay a tax. If you travel, you pay a tax for transportation and lodging. If you give away too much money to anyone other than a non-profit entity, you pay a tax. If you manage to amass enough money, when you die, your estate pays a tax.
Unless you live on the street, off of someone else, or in an institution, you cannot function without paying taxes. That is not entirely true either. If homeless people buy cigarettes or alcohol, they pay a tax. People who take care of those who do not pay taxes, pay taxes.
To say the same thing another way, consider the types of taxes we pay. For starters, we pay federal income tax. If you don’t understand why Uncle Sam wears such a tall hat, you will when he passes it around. Most Americans pay a state income tax. Except in a few states, people pay a sales tax on virtually every dollar they spend. If you drive a car, you pay a gas tax on every gallon of gas you buy. If you own property, you pay a property tax. If you buy commodities, you pay an excise tax, which is a tax on the manufacture and distribution of “non-essential consumer goods,” such as tobacco, liquor, fuel, etc., including an environmental tax and a communication tax.
Most people do not realize just how much they pay in taxes. If all the taxes we pay in a year were totaled, we would see the true size of our tax bill. If workers had to send the government a check for taxes every time they got paid, instead of their taxes (plural) being taken out of their paychecks, there would be another Boston Tea Party (for me, this is not a political issue; I have been saying this for decades).
Do you have any idea how much time you spend working just to pay taxes? The Tax Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit research group, says in 2012 everything you earned from January 1 to April 16th went for taxes. April 17th was “Tax Freedom Day.”
Paying taxes is not the issue. Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God's” (Mt. 22:21; Mk. 12:17; Lk. 20:25). Paul put it like this: “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” (Rom. 13:7).
The issue is when is enough—enough? Olympic medal winners have to pay a 35% tax on their winnings. They are paid $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze. On top of that, they have to pay a tax on the medals they receive. A gold medal winner has to pay $236 for the privilege of keeping the medal!
Taxes have gotten out of hand. As a member of the 99%, may I say, what we need is a government handout; that is, governments need to take their big hands out of our pockets. A smaller hand would be enough.
© G. Michael Cocoris 8/2/2012
Unless you live on the street, off of someone else, or in an institution, you cannot function without paying taxes. That is not entirely true either. If homeless people buy cigarettes or alcohol, they pay a tax. People who take care of those who do not pay taxes, pay taxes.
To say the same thing another way, consider the types of taxes we pay. For starters, we pay federal income tax. If you don’t understand why Uncle Sam wears such a tall hat, you will when he passes it around. Most Americans pay a state income tax. Except in a few states, people pay a sales tax on virtually every dollar they spend. If you drive a car, you pay a gas tax on every gallon of gas you buy. If you own property, you pay a property tax. If you buy commodities, you pay an excise tax, which is a tax on the manufacture and distribution of “non-essential consumer goods,” such as tobacco, liquor, fuel, etc., including an environmental tax and a communication tax.
Most people do not realize just how much they pay in taxes. If all the taxes we pay in a year were totaled, we would see the true size of our tax bill. If workers had to send the government a check for taxes every time they got paid, instead of their taxes (plural) being taken out of their paychecks, there would be another Boston Tea Party (for me, this is not a political issue; I have been saying this for decades).
Do you have any idea how much time you spend working just to pay taxes? The Tax Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit research group, says in 2012 everything you earned from January 1 to April 16th went for taxes. April 17th was “Tax Freedom Day.”
Paying taxes is not the issue. Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God's” (Mt. 22:21; Mk. 12:17; Lk. 20:25). Paul put it like this: “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” (Rom. 13:7).
The issue is when is enough—enough? Olympic medal winners have to pay a 35% tax on their winnings. They are paid $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze. On top of that, they have to pay a tax on the medals they receive. A gold medal winner has to pay $236 for the privilege of keeping the medal!
Taxes have gotten out of hand. As a member of the 99%, may I say, what we need is a government handout; that is, governments need to take their big hands out of our pockets. A smaller hand would be enough.
© G. Michael Cocoris 8/2/2012