The correlations between theology and government are striking. At one extreme are those hard-line politicians who promote government as the peoples’ religion. An opposite extreme may be represented by anarchists advocating atheism. In between, we see many other parallels between the faith of individuals and their perception of ideal forms of government. But nowhere is the correlation higher than in citizens’ beliefs about taxation. This phenomenon is most often called taxation theology.
It appears that many or most people develop their taxation theology in a manner consistent with the path they followed to arrive at their religious faith. For many, family tradition sets people on their initial direction of development. For others, group associations such as jobs, labor unions, schools, and churches are a major causative factor. Curiously, political associations do not seem to be the causative factor in individuals’ taxation theology (although there is usually a strong correlation between politics and taxation faith; more about that later). Age appears to have a minor influence; younger individuals (who have probably not paid any personal income taxes yet) tend to adopt a more liberal-left taxation theology and to be more indifferent about taxes in general.
Once an individual’s taxation theology is more or less set, that person rarely questions his or her deep-set opinion. This seems to be true of most of us, irrespective of our tax denomination—flat tax, fair tax, progressive tax, confiscatory tax, etc. However, it appears that changes in financial circumstances can trigger some introspection: “I didn’t realize until lately that taxes consume more than half of my income!”, or “I have enough income and wealth now that taxes are no concern”. Obviously there are more in the former category than the latter; but indifference to taxation by some wealthy people might have a negative effect on the rest of us.
One fact that is directly related to taxation theology is rarely mentioned: fifty percent of us in the United States do not pay any income tax. Does this tell us anything? Because the House, Senate and President control how much income tax any of us and all of us pay, the answer is “not much”. However it provides us with a context that may help us to understand how there can be so many opinions about income taxes. Those of us who pay little or no income taxes might be expected to differ in our tax theology from those who pay anywhere from a fourth to more than a third of their incomes in federal income tax alone.
Some of the tax denominations have arrived at a point where they espouse a combination of class-envy and poison-the-well: “If you have more than I do, give me the difference. If you won’t give it to me, then throw it down the government well so no one can have it”. Other denominations appear to be more egalitarian—a single flat tax for all, with no hidden add-on taxes / withholding (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, etc.). There are also a few groups of heretics who believe that the government is obligated to prove that each and every expenditure of tax monies is prudent, necessary and useful (even taxation theology has its weirdos).
One example of the correlation between political persuasion and taxation theology is those people of the OPM persuasion, dominant among the most ardent denominations. To the best of our knowledge, members of the OPM denomination are all associated with the left-liberal political spectrum.
OPM theologists frequently quote scripture in public, usually from the Book of Marx. Their favorite verse seems to be “The top one percent of income producers don’t pay their fair share of taxes”. This scriptural passage actually has a slight correlation to current tax reality—the top one percent at present pay only slightly more than half of all personal income taxes. But OPM believers are usually reluctant to engage in a debate on how much income tax is appropriate—sixty percent, eighty percent, ninety-five percent? OPMers must not have heard that the United Kingdom at one point had a top tax rate of one hundred two percent, 102%; otherwise they might have an answer ready to use.
In spite of the range of taxation denominations, it is likely that the balance of power among taxation theology denominations will depend, surprisingly, upon where the taxation agnostics come down. Tax agnostics generally show more resistance to politicians’ emotional appeals, but they do respond to calls for being “fair” in spreading the pain of taxes. Perhaps they believe in the mathematics that prove the same tax rate yields a larger amount of taxes collected from upper income earners than from low income people. They also generally believe that even the poorest of us should pay at least a few dollars per year.
It will be interesting in November 2012 to see which denominations are most heavily represented at the polls. Will the current, irrational U.S. income tax law continue to be safe, for one more interval?
Posted by thedrake01 
