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Why Do We Pay Taxes?


"History shows that over a long period of time government will spend whatever the tax system raises plus as much more as it can get away with." ~
Milton Friedman

For a little humor, here was a recent survey of what people would RATHER do than pay taxes.

Simply speaking, we pay taxes to pay government BILLS.  Does a road need repaving?  Well, we need taxes to collect revenue to do that.  Does the military need funding?  There are taxes for that.  Does Guantanamo Bay need a $744,000 soccer field for inmates?  Yep, that gets paid for by tax dollars!  If you want to see more absurd examples of taxpayer money waste, feel free to follow Citizens Against Government Waste.

Over time more and more programs came into existence which required more tax revenue.  Before 1977, there was no Department of Energy but now they have an annual budget over $30 billion and have over 14,000 employees.  Department of Education?  Also created in the 70’s, now with a budget of over $100 billion dollars.  And believe it or not, we did not even have a Department of Homeland Security in 2000.  Social Security was created in 1935, Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 and now these programs account for over HALF of total federal government spending. 

So quite simply….taxes pay bills. 


Read Next: Taxes: Your BIGGEST Expense!

*Full disclosure I am NOT a CPA nor a certified financial advisor (or any other alphabet soup designation) and all of the information in this section is provided solely for educational purposes and does NOT constitute legal or tax advice. EVERYONE should consult their own financial advisors, CPAs and tax strategists to compile their own individualized plans.*

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