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Comment by snappyTertle | Hacker News Reader

I don't get why people think paying more taxes is "moral". There are a lot of things the government spends on that I don't agree with...and I'm sure I'm not alone on this.

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I would be happy if we were paying taxes on a level playing field - but we're not. That is the "moral" part of it for me. How that money is spent is another argument.

Why should any company pay taxes on profit?

I think that corporate taxes shouldn't exist _at all_ as they are merely an abstraction over sales taxes, income taxes, or capital gains taxes.

Why should anyone pay any taxes whatsoever?

Why should anyone contribute to the society that allowed them to make their money the first place?

It’s the hypocrisy that the richest and most profitable corporation doesn’t have to pay tax while the rest of us do.

Actually what is moral (according to utilitarianism) is to avoid as many taxes as possible and then donate as much money to efficient charity. A lot of first-world government interventions are inefficient human-welfare-wise, mainly because they focus on problems within their own country.

That's what it's like being in a democracy and living in a society. Maybe you'd prefer to live in an anarcho-libertarian state but many people seem to enjoy benefits of a modern democratic society with all its safety nets.

There are ways to work around that to a certain extent though, for instance you can donate to nonprofits for causes you care for and get a tax rebate. That effectively means that you decide where that share of the taxes gets invested personally.

But beyond that there's not much you can do, you'll never have a government you 100% agree with on all subjects, at some point you have to accept to compromise and vote for the representatives that best represent your viewpoint and interests. Or leave I guess.

People usually feel (don't think) that it's moral for OTHERS to pay more taxes. They also feel (don't think) that's moral for themselves to pay less. It's called socialism.

Well, i feel its moral for me to pay all my taxes, and even though i also give money to charity, i don't use this fact to reduce my taxes, because i feel a lot of people need this money way more than me. This is socialism.

No, this is either personal choice over your own property, (which is charity), or irrelevant - your feelings over taxes don't matter, you don't get to choose whether to pay the taxes or not.

Socialism is forcing your choice on other people's property through the only organization that has monopoly on violence in today's society - government.

But i could choose to pay less taxes, and i don't. Honestly i'm pretty happy with socialism right now, i lived in the bottom 20% for 23 years and still got to go to the hospital to get surgery at 3 y/o, my little brother did not die from his appendicite and my mother breast cancer was detected before it spread too much. I never suffered from malnutrition and access to free education allowed me to get into the top 20% with no debts while attending social gathering and studying in other countries thanks to erasmus.

I agree that i don't have the choice on what my taxes will be used for, and this is a problem, but the other choice is to count on charity? to pray that everybody will act like homo economicus and take rationnal decision on how to improve everybody well-being without being greedy and acting like children? Sicilian orphanage is what you get when "charity" is in charge. I'd rather pay taxes and have the state manage that tbh.

Now if someday, everybody become smart and decent enough, i would totally agree with you to ditch socialism et start a liberal anarchy.

Let me get this straight - while you "agree" to pay higher taxes, you actually get more from the government that you put in? It seems that your position first and foremost is aligned with your rational self-interest rather than abstract moral values.

Well i actually got more from the government that what i put in, but at this very moment, i certainly give more than what i get, and even with kids in the picture i'd still give more.

And even when my overall contribution to my country will be highr than what my whole family got (and it will eventually happen), i'd still be happy to pay my taxes so that other kids can have the same chances i had.

I believe in meritocratic society and i don't see how to achieve that without socialism and some taxes until everyone stop being petty, greedy and/or self-centered. Then we can all be libertarian.

Finally i'm an utilitarist (well, a negative utilitarist following Popper's definition) so my moral values are not abstract.

Are there parts of Gov spending that you agree on? How about: - Public Safety? - Roads? - Education? Do you want to keep those? Who should pay for this if no-one pays taxes?

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