Do you do your own taxes?

[Joshgreen]

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

They do figure how much you owe, but no one trusts the government.

But take it directly take it away from them? Only you would put it it that way and think it was a good idea.

Oh, I know that very well. There aren't many tax-lovers around these days. But that makes me all the prouder for being one of the few sane people in a world of morons.

Taxes are a necessary evil, but that means they are evil.

I beg to differ. Provided that their burden is distributed fairly (that is, in a steeply progressive tax system), taxes are a force for good in and of themselves, as they give force to the fundamental principle that the well-off have a responsibility toward the collectivity, and a share of their wealth must be devoted to furthering the common good.

You put it in such noxious terms!  For me taxes are there to raise revenue for the government. If it is meant primarily to redistribute wealth, than it is improper. Redistribution should be at most a side effect of taxation and not its raison d'etre.

And of course for someone like me the moral justification for progressive taxation is fairly weak. In short I try to pay as little tax as I can. If I had more faith in the government, I might consider being less stingy but I'd much rather prefer to give a large share of my income to charity, which I do (about 20%), although a good chunk of this is just membership at the Metropolitan Museum and the Philharmonic. And I tend to "export" the rest to Africa.

It's not a lot of money, barely a thousand. But I feel it goes somewhere worthwhile whereas taxation seems like throwing money in a hole.

Charities are often worse at redistributing money than the government.

[DC Al Fine]

Did them the year I was in San Francisco. That was annoying as hell... even though I did not actually have to pay anything. Seriously, why can't the government just figure out how much someone owes and directly take the money away from them instead of having them go through that hassle (which also makes tax evasion much easier)?

That would be ridiculously expensive and intrusive for all but the simplest tax situations.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Apologies if I'm misinterpreting anyone, but I feel like you may be talking past one another a bit. Just so we're all on the same page:

- Antonio, are you aware that in the US the government withholds monthly tax payments from the paycheques of employed workers? It's not like people are paying all their tax on April 15; the filing is just to solve discrepancies between the monthly income withholding and the total amount owing from other deductions or sources of income. Many people get a refund since they have overpaid during the year.

- DC Al Fine, are you aware that in many European countries, the government tax agency fills out a return for you and just sends it to for you to either sign, or amend if there are mistakes? It's possible to amend it if they've made a mistake, but in most cases neither the taxpayer nor a private accountant "does" the person's taxes. This would be fairly easy to implement here, since salary and interest information are sent to the government and they have it in a computer. Granted, it helps that their tax codes are simpler.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Never.

[morgieb]

I don't have an income and live with my parents anyway.

[Antonio the Sixth]

- Antonio, are you aware that in the US the government withholds monthly tax payments from the paycheques of employed workers? It's not like people are paying all their tax on April 15; the filing is just to solve discrepancies between the monthly income withholding and the total amount owing from other deductions or sources of income. Many people get a refund since they have overpaid during the year.

No, I admittedly don't know much about how taxes are collected in the US. That certainly makes things a bit better, though the way some European countries (not France though, whose income tax system is incredibly outdated) do it is still superior.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

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Yes, but it cost £100.

Or where is the system where the IRS says what your taxes i going to be me but no one  actually uses it.

No... it's free, and it's a full online tax return with built in calculators. It's brilliant.