Americans recognize April 15th as "Tax Day," but tax day is really every day you receive a paycheck. By taking your money before it gets to your hand, the government has successfully diluted the impact taxation has upon individuals and reduced the outrage of working Americans on election day. If every taxpayer were required to write a check to the government for the full amount of his tax "liability" each year we'd have far fewer tax and spenders roaming our halls of government.
Go here to read an excellent essay on the immorality of progressive taxation. The essay discusses income taxes, but the same principle applies to all forms of taxation.
Posted by JohnGalt at April 15, 2003 11:04 AMAmen! What do you thing of sales-tax or VAT? That would give more transparency than the payroll-deduction. Witholding is a complete farce in that it's a masterful PR coup. Taxpayers are so happy to get change back, that they ignore what they have paid.
Posted by: jk at April 15, 2003 03:13 PM