Taxation Fairness Debate

Discussions revolve around whether individuals should pay taxes if they don't personally benefit from government services, framing taxes as societal contributions versus direct payments for personal use.

πŸ“‰ Falling 0.5x Politics & Society
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US OP HN EU NYC QOL NSA SV U.S taxes pay pay taxes tax paying taxation services education money benefit

Sample Comments

Varriount β€’ Mar 31, 2021 β€’ View on HN

No, because (again, ideally) those taxes are going to be used to benefit the common good.Trying to get out of paying them would be like saying, "of course I should get help from everyone else for education, housing, infrastructure, etc., but goodness forbid I actually return the favor later on so that others get the same benefit!"Anyway, it's not like such taxes take away so much of your earnings that you're left with a pittance. At some point you have to ask yourself,

TallGuyShort β€’ Jun 21, 2019 β€’ View on HN

Why should I work to pay taxes if I don't benefit from it?

Shank β€’ Jan 8, 2023 β€’ View on HN

Taxes are for social services and benefit of the public. If you never experience those benefits and never use any social services, why should you be forced to pay those taxes?

Broken_Hippo β€’ Feb 5, 2024 β€’ View on HN

No, it is just tax. Tax is part of a person's contribution to society.If you aren't getting much value for your taxes, perhaps elect better people to handle that tax money.

darkr β€’ Feb 12, 2016 β€’ View on HN

Because taxes aren't a personal payment for government services for yourself. You're paying into a shared fund on a capacity basis so that _everyone_ can have access to those services.

skinnymuch β€’ Oct 24, 2021 β€’ View on HN

Every one who pays taxes pays for some stuff they don’t like or benefit from.

cuillevel3 β€’ Aug 27, 2021 β€’ View on HN

Why not just pay taxes instead? That's literally paying it back to society.

EgregiousCube β€’ Jul 18, 2023 β€’ View on HN

It sounds like you're in a good spot where the taxes extracted from you go to support a value system that you are in favor of. Given that taxes aren't a choice, and given that value systems vary between people, can you envision a case where somebody with a different value system would be unhappy about where their taxes go?

qchips β€’ Jan 20, 2021 β€’ View on HN

Don't you feel sometimes that the amount of tax you're paying is not equivalent to what you are getting in return in terms of infrastructure, education or healthcare ?

mercurial β€’ Oct 23, 2015 β€’ View on HN

This is a stupid analogy. People dodging taxes rob from the commons, essentially. If you're not satisfied with what the government does with your taxes and you live in a democratic society, get out and vote, a benefit you enjoy due to your taxes, as well as things like security, a justice system and (depending on your country) an efficient healthcare and welfare system, all paid for by your taxes. Just like a normal government should also spend a significant amount of your money on supporti