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The Government is not "being paid" tax dollars[^0], it is (in principle, at least) spending and redistributing wealth in ways which benefit all citizens. UKGov
by johnday 5y ago
The Government is not "being paid" tax dollars[^0], it is (in principle, at least) spending and redistributing wealth in ways which benefit all citizens. UKGov releases these reports, for example https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-statistics-release https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-statistic... - good luck condensing these down to the point where they can fit in any taxpayer's head, and this is just the surface level outgoings.
> If you get hand wavy and tell me its too complicated [...]
Unfortunately, it really is too complicated. A doctorate in economics might get you a decent way towards understanding the good that taxation provides, but given that economists still have differences of opinion, maybe not a complete understanding.
[^0]: Well it is, but only a tiny proportion.
- TimPC 5y agoWhat exactly is your background where you assume your answer is correct when you know even the experts have substantial disagreements on taxation. Maybe there are a lot of legitimate disagreements on how much and which taxes because taxes aren’t a universal good but rather a necessary evil.
- johnday 5y agoWhat claims do you think I have made? All I have said above is that taxation (a) is complicated and (b) has hidden externalities, both of which are obviously correct and appropriate responses to the things being asked.
- neilwilson 5y ago" A doctorate in economics might get you a decent way towards understanding the good that taxation provides" Unlikely. Economics doesn't even understand how the monetary system works, let alone taxation. Taxation works more like memory garbage collection than anything else. It's a cleaning up process.