Matthew 22:17 Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the tax money.”
They brought to him a denarius.
20 He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”
21 They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
This episode is repeated, almost word for word, in Mark 12:13-17 and Luke 20:21-25
Jesus was not speaking of paying taxes to an elected government, but to a foreign occupying government.
Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, 4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. 7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
All quotations from the World English Bible, public domain. A more comprehensive post, on what the Bible says about politics, is here. Thanks for reading.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
License
I have written an e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which is free to anyone. To download that book, in several formats, go here.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2011
Taxes create jobs!
"Taxes kill jobs" - Speaker of the House John Boehner, at least once a day for the last few weeks. (At least it seems like it.)
That statement is an oversimplification, at best, and tends to be deceptive.
Why is it an oversimplification? How are Speaker Boehner and his staff paid? By the tooth fairy? No. By taxes.* And, of course, they have jobs, supported by US taxpayers.
The Speaker is partly right. Consider a hypothetical state or city where all income, business or personal, was completely taxed, all of it went to the government. Businesses would have little motivation to establish themselves in such an area, and, thus, there would be few or no jobs available. People looking for work wouldn't live there, if they could help it. Even the job of tax collector would be non-existent, because there would be too little tax money coming in to pay for such people. So, in that case, taxes would kill jobs.
However, consider the opposite situation, a state or city where there were no taxes. With no income, government would be unable to provide infrastructure, police and fire protection, a justice system, schools and hospitals, or regulatory apparatus, and, again, there would be few businesses, or people, who would want to locate in such a place. So no taxes would also kill jobs. A situation where there are tax revenues sufficient for the government to do its job would make job creation possible, rather than preventing job creation. So the Speaker is only partly right, and seriously wrong.
The Federal Aviation Administration has recently had to furlough about 70,000 workers, mostly construction workers, because Congress can't agree on funding the agency.
The ideal, then, must be somewhere between 100% and zero taxation. What rate is ideal? That's certainly a matter for legitimate debate, but to say that taxes kill jobs is not stating the full truth. Taxes can help create jobs.
There's another reason why taxes don't kill, but can create jobs. Private businesses do not generally engage in research into new areas of science. For example, most of the initial development of the laser, both theoretical and initial construction and assembly, was done by scientists in academic, or military laboratories, funded by taxes. Without the laser, CDs, DVDs, computer hard disks, and many other devices that we now take for granted, all of them requiring the employment of skilled labor to produce and repair, and all of them providing employment for salespeople, would not be possible. Although some fundamental research and development is carried out in industry labs, much of it is not, and it is usually the most radical research that is carried out in academic labs, and the most radical research often makes whole new categories of employment possible. Countries, or local areas, that develop these new categories will probably become more competitive. They will be adding new jobs. Much of our present position as the world's largest economy has been possible because of research and development done in the past, much of it funded by tax money.
The Internet, exploration of the solar system, large telescopes and similar devices, high-energy physics, and the human genome project, to name a few rather spectacular items, were developed largely with money from governments, that is, from tax money. At least the first of these has led to a great many jobs, and the others have or probably will also do so. To be sure, there have been major research endeavors funded privately, such as PARC, the Carnegie Laboratories, and Bell labs.
The United States didn't become an economic powerhouse by lowering taxes. It became so, at least partly, because of costly efforts, governmental or private, to carry out and implement scientific research.
Thanks for reading. Pay your taxes.
*I have been reminded that governments can get revenue in other ways than through taxes, such as through usage fees (like sewage fees, or license fees). But I'm describing them all as taxes, as the politicians in Washington generally do.
On August 1, 2011, I'm adding the following:
There are frequent assertions as to the effect of tax policy on job creation, by politicians of various persuasions. I saw part of a debate on this matter between Senators Durbin and McCain on this issue yesterday, on the Senate floor. My take is that there are too many variables. So many, in fact, that it's impossible to know for sure, for example, whether the so-called Bush tax cuts helped to create jobs, or didn't. Connection of tax policy to jobs has never been done as a controlled experiment, with a single independent variable (tax rate, or some other tweaking of tax regulations), accompanying the measurement of the dependent variable (number of jobs). It is impossible to perform such an experiment, with only one variable. Variables include fluctuations in world markets, changes in the number of people seeking employment, the prices of raw materials that we depend on (such as oil), tariffs on our goods, the values of other currencies and ours, and other variables. So politicians pretty much draw whatever conclusion they want from the data.
* * * * *
On December 20, 2011, I came across a posting by Politifact, a non-partisan entity, that discusses the matter of taxes and small businesses. It's a complicated subject, as they point out, but increasing taxes on the wealthiest persons would have much less impact on small businesses than Speaker Boehner has said.
* * * * *
November 10, 2012: I should have known about the Wikipedia article on the Laffer curve, which repeats much of what I said above, more authoritatively, and also says, that an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office studied the probable effects of cutting taxes: [In the] paper's most generous estimated growth scenario, only 28% of the projected lost revenue from the lower tax rate would be recouped over a 10-year period after a 10% across-the-board reduction in all individual income tax rates. In other words, deficits would increase by nearly the same amount as the tax cut in the first five years, with limited feedback revenue thereafter.
* * * * *
June 22, 2016: Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, not known for always anchoring his pronouncements in facts, has claimed that the US has the highest individual tax rate in the world. Politifact has researched that claim thoroughly, and determined that it is false. They do say that the US has a high, perhaps the highest, corporate tax rate in the world.
That statement is an oversimplification, at best, and tends to be deceptive.
Why is it an oversimplification? How are Speaker Boehner and his staff paid? By the tooth fairy? No. By taxes.* And, of course, they have jobs, supported by US taxpayers.
The Speaker is partly right. Consider a hypothetical state or city where all income, business or personal, was completely taxed, all of it went to the government. Businesses would have little motivation to establish themselves in such an area, and, thus, there would be few or no jobs available. People looking for work wouldn't live there, if they could help it. Even the job of tax collector would be non-existent, because there would be too little tax money coming in to pay for such people. So, in that case, taxes would kill jobs.
However, consider the opposite situation, a state or city where there were no taxes. With no income, government would be unable to provide infrastructure, police and fire protection, a justice system, schools and hospitals, or regulatory apparatus, and, again, there would be few businesses, or people, who would want to locate in such a place. So no taxes would also kill jobs. A situation where there are tax revenues sufficient for the government to do its job would make job creation possible, rather than preventing job creation. So the Speaker is only partly right, and seriously wrong.
The Federal Aviation Administration has recently had to furlough about 70,000 workers, mostly construction workers, because Congress can't agree on funding the agency.
The ideal, then, must be somewhere between 100% and zero taxation. What rate is ideal? That's certainly a matter for legitimate debate, but to say that taxes kill jobs is not stating the full truth. Taxes can help create jobs.
There's another reason why taxes don't kill, but can create jobs. Private businesses do not generally engage in research into new areas of science. For example, most of the initial development of the laser, both theoretical and initial construction and assembly, was done by scientists in academic, or military laboratories, funded by taxes. Without the laser, CDs, DVDs, computer hard disks, and many other devices that we now take for granted, all of them requiring the employment of skilled labor to produce and repair, and all of them providing employment for salespeople, would not be possible. Although some fundamental research and development is carried out in industry labs, much of it is not, and it is usually the most radical research that is carried out in academic labs, and the most radical research often makes whole new categories of employment possible. Countries, or local areas, that develop these new categories will probably become more competitive. They will be adding new jobs. Much of our present position as the world's largest economy has been possible because of research and development done in the past, much of it funded by tax money.
The Internet, exploration of the solar system, large telescopes and similar devices, high-energy physics, and the human genome project, to name a few rather spectacular items, were developed largely with money from governments, that is, from tax money. At least the first of these has led to a great many jobs, and the others have or probably will also do so. To be sure, there have been major research endeavors funded privately, such as PARC, the Carnegie Laboratories, and Bell labs.
The United States didn't become an economic powerhouse by lowering taxes. It became so, at least partly, because of costly efforts, governmental or private, to carry out and implement scientific research.
Thanks for reading. Pay your taxes.
*I have been reminded that governments can get revenue in other ways than through taxes, such as through usage fees (like sewage fees, or license fees). But I'm describing them all as taxes, as the politicians in Washington generally do.
On August 1, 2011, I'm adding the following:
There are frequent assertions as to the effect of tax policy on job creation, by politicians of various persuasions. I saw part of a debate on this matter between Senators Durbin and McCain on this issue yesterday, on the Senate floor. My take is that there are too many variables. So many, in fact, that it's impossible to know for sure, for example, whether the so-called Bush tax cuts helped to create jobs, or didn't. Connection of tax policy to jobs has never been done as a controlled experiment, with a single independent variable (tax rate, or some other tweaking of tax regulations), accompanying the measurement of the dependent variable (number of jobs). It is impossible to perform such an experiment, with only one variable. Variables include fluctuations in world markets, changes in the number of people seeking employment, the prices of raw materials that we depend on (such as oil), tariffs on our goods, the values of other currencies and ours, and other variables. So politicians pretty much draw whatever conclusion they want from the data.
* * * * *
On December 20, 2011, I came across a posting by Politifact, a non-partisan entity, that discusses the matter of taxes and small businesses. It's a complicated subject, as they point out, but increasing taxes on the wealthiest persons would have much less impact on small businesses than Speaker Boehner has said.
* * * * *
November 10, 2012: I should have known about the Wikipedia article on the Laffer curve, which repeats much of what I said above, more authoritatively, and also says, that an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office studied the probable effects of cutting taxes: [In the] paper's most generous estimated growth scenario, only 28% of the projected lost revenue from the lower tax rate would be recouped over a 10-year period after a 10% across-the-board reduction in all individual income tax rates. In other words, deficits would increase by nearly the same amount as the tax cut in the first five years, with limited feedback revenue thereafter.
* * * * *
June 22, 2016: Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, not known for always anchoring his pronouncements in facts, has claimed that the US has the highest individual tax rate in the world. Politifact has researched that claim thoroughly, and determined that it is false. They do say that the US has a high, perhaps the highest, corporate tax rate in the world.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
What the New Testament says about government, including taxes
Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Peter 2:13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
(All scripture quoted from the ESV)
So. We should pray for our government, pay taxes, and submit to governmental authority, even honor it. No doubt there may be exceptions -- Paul sometimes stood up to governmental authority, and perhaps there is room to question unjust or excessive taxes -- but generally, we should pray for our government and those in authority, submit to them, honor them, obey the laws, and pay our taxes.
Remember that the government referred to here was the Roman empire, a mostly pagan dictatorship, which had conquered many nations, including the Jewish homeland, and was hardly a friend to Christianity. It was Roman soldiers who put Christ to death.
Thanks for reading.
* * * *
Added December 4th, 2008: Another blogger posted on a related statement in the Old Testament, which I then posted about, here (including giving credit to the other blogger).
Added May 5, 2012: I posted a reaction to a number of persons who consider themselves Christians, and they most likely are, who seem to feel free to not only criticize, but mock, current President Obama.
Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Peter 2:13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
(All scripture quoted from the ESV)
So. We should pray for our government, pay taxes, and submit to governmental authority, even honor it. No doubt there may be exceptions -- Paul sometimes stood up to governmental authority, and perhaps there is room to question unjust or excessive taxes -- but generally, we should pray for our government and those in authority, submit to them, honor them, obey the laws, and pay our taxes.
Remember that the government referred to here was the Roman empire, a mostly pagan dictatorship, which had conquered many nations, including the Jewish homeland, and was hardly a friend to Christianity. It was Roman soldiers who put Christ to death.
Thanks for reading.
* * * *
Added December 4th, 2008: Another blogger posted on a related statement in the Old Testament, which I then posted about, here (including giving credit to the other blogger).
Added May 5, 2012: I posted a reaction to a number of persons who consider themselves Christians, and they most likely are, who seem to feel free to not only criticize, but mock, current President Obama.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)