Let’s face it…..not many of us like paying tax! Even Jesus didn’t think very highly of tax collectors and once angrily upturned their tables when in the temple!
While most of us don’t go to that extreme – although many might feel like it! – it’s a simple fact of life that, if we want a good standard of public amenities, then someone has to pay for them. Sadly, the magic money tree is only a figment of our imagination!
Have you ever really thought what our tax actually pays for? The big ones such as the NHS are real money-sappers, literally having billions of pounds poured into it every year, but there are hundreds of other public organisations which have to be paid for too. Just off the top of my head I can think of the judicial system, prisons, the secret service, transport, the armed forces, police, fire service, education, social services, street lighting and highways, state pensions, the Foreign Office, government departments, the border force, passport offices, the DVLC, the monarchy, energy, agricultural subsidies, the welfare system……the list goes on and on.
Many people try, both legally and illegally, to get out of paying tax. Many are very successful at doing it, usually by just working for cash-in-hand or, with the big money people, by having off-shore accounts in dodgy Caribbean islands (other islands are available!) Clever accountants and lawyers help considerably with that.
What really annoys me about people who don’t pay their fair share and right amount of of tax is that they’re often the ones who complain the most about inadequate public services. People in poor countries must look with deep envy at our relatively high standard of living and public services. It’s often said that we’re the in the top five richest countries in the world but what they fail to mention is that we’re also one of the most indebted too.
Additionally, the Covid pandemic only three years ago – with the furlough scheme and the cost of inoculating millions of people – have added billions to our national debt. I heard at the time that it would take until 2070 to pay off the debt the government had borrowed to pay for all this, leaving a massive financial burden which our grandchildren would have to pay.
Almost every time the television news is turned on, there’s some individual or organisation saying that the government should pay for this, that and the other. There’s only a finite amount of money the government can spend but the clamour for more, more, more goes on.
Like most people, I dislike waste, particularly in public services. Government departments and local authorities were once full of unnecessary “empires” which had been built up, although this situation might have improved since the 2008 austerity crisis. However, I still fail to see why millions of pounds and dollars should be spent sending rockets up into space, particularly Jupiter which is eight years away! Why investigate other planets when we’ve made such a mess of this one? It’s very unlikely that anyone will ever realistically be sent to live on the moon, or anywhere else for that matter. In my opinion, it’s all a complete waste of money for a very poor return on investment.
Perhaps if people saw the “fat cats” and rich people generally not getting away with tax evasion then some may feel more amenable to paying their share. Equally, reducing the 20% VAT on goods and services might also encourage less cash-in-hand work which is a direct benefit to both seller and the buyer but not to the government to pay for the myriad services we expect.
As Christians, tax evasion might fall into the bracket of “thou shalt not steal” as it could be argued that, by not paying the tax authorities their rightful income, people are depriving society of its rightful dues. Having said that, I can’t see many people clambering to queue up at HMRC and begging to pay more any time soon!
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