Talking Taxes

Tax is indeed as ubiquitous as the air invisibly surrounding you. It's as intimidating as the gorgeous models you envy in fashion magazines, and as scary as the thought of waking up next to Nearly Headless Nick on a chilly winter night. Majority stay away from any topic that has anything to do with finances, money, and (gasp) tax because it's either too complicated for their liking or they really just don't have any idea, concept, or whatnot about tax. But though they don't talk much about it, they are most probably aware of one thing: tax is inescapable.

True enough, tax is a wee bit intricate. So where to start? In a nutshell, taxes are financial charges imposed upon an individual (basically, everyone) by the government. Taxes can be imposed on a sundry of goods and services which in turn, serves as a sort of income generation for the government. Taxes are not "optional" as they say, as every person is required and forced to pay their taxes. Taxpayers fund the government's projects making tax a way of life for every individual. Without taxes, the state cannot carry out its duties as taxes fund expenditures on war, construction of public works, enforcement of public order, the education system, public utilities, and even health care systems.

Since taxes are the primary source of income of the government, it is understood then that the state or government saw the need to create a law that would subject every individual or legal entities such as corporations to punishment should they deliberately refuse (or fail) to pay their taxes. And this is called a tax law.

But it is important to note that there are different kinds of taxes that are aimed at fairly distributing this compulsory financial charge among people who come from different social classes. There's consumption tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, income tax, transfer tax, and the infamous value added tax. It's true what they say that the more you earn, the higher and bigger your tax responsibilities are.

And though many grunt, throw a fit, and complain at taxes, the only truth of the matter is, taxes are a very justifiable government-imposed obligation. Without taxes, how could the state provide adequate and sufficient programs and systems that benefit the mass population? Economic stability can never be achieved without taxes. Or rather, without individuals paying their taxes on time.