Axe the tax?

Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17)
“For all things are your servants.” (Psalm 119: 91b)

Jesus’ response when he was being tested by the Pharisees about his ultimate allegiance is enigmatic to say the least. However, it is hard not to infer that Jesus is granting that earthly rulers are servants of God who do have legitimate (though limited) authority to serve their citizens and that such service requires money (i.e., taxes).

Living in Alberta, I am constantly reminded by my government that because of its low tax regime, I am experiencing the “Alberta Advantage.” This “advantage” includes among other things, not paying any sales tax, and having the lowest business taxes in the country. Less well known is that Alberta collects far more revenue from tobacco, liquor and gambling taxes than it does from oil and gas royalties. Like the denial of the nasty environmental and climate costs of carbon extraction, the human health and wellness costs of my province’s addiction to gambling revenues is seldom mentioned. But I digress.

A just society

Death and taxes are said to be inevitable, meaning that they are both bad. I, however, count it a privilege to pay my taxes. I am so pleased that I have roads on which to travel, traffic lights that control that travel, doctors, and hospitals to take care of me when I am sick, police and fire services that keep me safe, schools that educate my children, garbage that is collected every week, clean drinking water, sewers and treatment plants that safely dispose of my bodily wastes, vaccines that protect me from nasty diseases, etc. I feel blessed to live in a country where my taxes provide me with the services and benefits of a civil society. Does that mean that I think that all taxes, or the level of taxation levied on people of different means, are perfectly calculated and imposed? Of course not. Everything in our fallen world, including our tax system, needs constant work and scrutiny to be as fair and useful as possible. But the notion that taxes are, by definition, inherently bad is just crazy. Taxes are the fuel needed to create a just society.

What about no taxes?

I often encounter folks who argue that the best taxes are always the least taxes. As a corollary to this, they also favour the least possible government interference in the so-called free market. The logical extension of such positions is that no taxes and no government would be the best of all possible worlds. I suggest to such people that they move to Somalia or to some other failed and impoverished state where the government consists, at any given moment, of whomever has the biggest guns to enforce their selfish and ruthless rule on a powerless and disenfranchised citizenry.

Rather than shouting about axing the tax, let us advocate for taxes that serve the welfare of Creation and the good of our neighbours.