The immoral income tax

Yesterday, I sent copies of a W-9 form to two different companies I've sold to. And as every time I've had to do that, I resent it. You see, I've come to believe that the income tax, at least as a general rule, is immoral, and that W-9 forms and the like essentially make us spy on one another.

I'll keep paying taxes on my income, to be sure, because there's no practical alternative. Still, that doesn't mean the tax is morally right. It simply means the government is holding a figurative gun to my head.

Let me ask you this: does your neighbor have the moral right to know how much money you make? No? Then why does your neighbor named Uncle Sam or Lansing? Yet to tax our earnings they must be told that, again by compulsion. And even if you argue that an income tax is okay, what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Things such as W-9s presume guilt; now we see two reasons not to like the income tax. It allows the government to assume we will work against it. No matter how true that might be for many people, and I will readily concede that some try to circumvent it as they do many other laws, on a case by case basis it is still moral presumption and a violation of our rights as citizens.

But how else can the government get money, Marty, because even governments need cash you know. My answer is a system of sales taxes and user fees, all of which are factored against voluntary interactions. You want to drive? Pay gas taxes. You want to camp at a government park? Pay a user fee. We could easily make reasonable exemptions to this, but I think you get the point.

Yeah, nothing will come of this. I even expect many of you will disagree with me. But I felt like a rant this morning, so I give you one. There is little doubt in my mind that income taxes are immoral.