Is it Morally Right to Legally Reduce Your Tax Burden

As taxes, both hidden and visible, continue to rise in the United States, many people are asking the question - is it moral to legally reduce your tax burden?

This is an interesting question that also raises a corollary question - is it moral for the government to force you to pay taxes? To answer these questions, let's begin by looking at some history.

Many people are astonished to find out that income taxes are actually a relatively recent phenomena in the United States. During most of the 18th and 19th centuries, there was no income tax. The first appearance of the income tax was during the Civil War. There was a brief tax of 3% to help fund the war.

After the war, this tax was dropped and there were no more income taxes for the remainder of the 19th century. Many scholars say that this tax was unconstitutional, since Article 1 Section 8 of the constitution forbids congress from levying apportioned taxes.

More income taxes were instituted in the 1890's, but the Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional. This changed with the passage of the 16th Amendment of the constitution. The full text of this amendment reads:

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

This was an interesting amendment, since all previous amendments had the essence of guaranteeing the rights of the people and limiting the power of the government. This was the first amendment that explicitly gave the federal government more power over the people. Even so, most people were only taxed at a rate of 1%.

This tax rate has slowly risen over the years. At times, the top tax bracket has exceeded 90%, which is quite extraordinary.

So is it moral to legally reduce your tax burden? Interestingly, many economists would say that it is. It is no surprise that the 19th century United States saw the greatest increase of wealth and well-being for the common man compared to any other time in history.

It was also the period in history with the greatest amount of charitable giving. When the government takes the fruit of its citizens' labor by force, they ruin innovation and wealth, and they increase poverty and waste.

Henry David Thoreau spent time in jail because he refused to pay taxes to a government that allowed slavery. He considered it a form of civil disobedience. He famously said: "Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."

Is it moral to legally reduce your tax burden? That is your absolute minimum duty. Even nobler would be to refuse to pay them at all, but then you must be willing to pay the price.

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