Enthusiasts Don't Mind Having to Pay Taxes

New Orleans Times Picayune • March 24, 2002

By Dru Sefton, Newhouse News Service

WASHINGTON -- How much do Americans hate taxes? They equate them with death. Can't get much worse than that.

But then there's Reo Christenson of Miamisburg, Ohio. "I like to pay taxes," he said, "and I'm not incarcerated in a loony bin." And Eric Bremberg of Wakefield, Mass. "I definitely like paying taxes. I'm an American."

Along with Jennifer Ladd of Northampton, Mass., who said, "I am glad to pay my fair share."
They're out there, these rare tax enthusiasts.

As most Americans grumble over their Internal Revenue Service forms in the days leading up to the dreaded April 15 deadline, a small but satisfied group of citizens is smiling.

These are "tax advocates," dubbed that by the nonpartisan Council for Excellence in Government. Its 1999 survey identified 15 percent of 1,214 adults as tax advocates. Of those, 77 percent strongly agreed with the statement, "I don't mind paying taxes when I consider what the government does."

Inscribed on the IRS headquarters is a similar statement: "Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society." That's from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who died in 1935.

Some folks even go so far as to send extra money to the IRS at tax time, above and beyond their tax bill, to help pay down the national debt. According to the IRS, there have been nearly 16,000 contributions totaling $9.8 million since 1982. During fiscal year 2000, 154 contributions totaled $133,110.

Income taxes pay for defense spending and health care, for environmental programs, job training, housing and nutrition, not to mention the interest on the national debt. All are important to America.

Then why do we complain about our taxes? The answer goes back to ancient times.

"Throughout history, there has been a distaste for paying taxes, dating from the early Egyptians," said Thomas Omer, associate professor of accounting at the college of business administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Most early taxes were imposed to fight wars or settle domestic disputes over land, with few welfare benefits being provided."

In America, income taxes particularly got a bad name during the 1960s, said Bill Ahern, director of communications for the Tax Foundation, an independent group that monitors fiscal policy. Back then, some income tax rates had soared as high as 90 percent.

"But because you can't make people pay that much, the tax laws were riddled like Swiss cheese, full of loopholes and tax dodges," Ahern said. "People were investing in chinchilla ranches and empty strip malls. People came to hate the income tax because it was perceived as extremely unfair. If you paid honestly, you paid through the nose. If you invested in crazy things, you could get out of the taxes."

Now tax rates range from 10 percent to 39 percent. And Americans are still complaining.
Robert McIntyre said politics play a big role in public perception. "It's the right-wing propaganda machine, based on the theory that all money sent to the government goes into a black hole," said McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, a research and advocacy group focusing on the impact of taxes.

"Gimme a break," said Sean Rushton, media director for Citizens Against Government Waste. "Only someone on the far left could call an agenda against government waste anything but common sense.

"The fact of the matter is," Rushton said, "a group like ours is not saying the government shouldn't spend money. We're saying, assuming we're going to spend that money, we want to make sure it's not being mismanaged or the government isn't being defrauded."

Elected leaders "should feel a stronger obligation to let people know exactly what their taxes do," said Patricia McGinnis, president and chief executive officer of the Council for Excellence in Government. "The hard thing about taxes is, it's a lot of money, a chunk of a person's paycheck, and it's not always clear where the money's going or what the benefits are."

Christenson said he knows the benefits. He's a professor emeritus in political science at Miami University of Ohio and a longtime tax enthusiast.

Taxes, he pointed out, pay for "flood relief. Rebuilding crumbling dams. Highway construction. Protecting fish and wildlife. Our national parks."

"Without taxes," Christenson said, "we'd have no national defense. And our old people would be in terrible shape."

And so, "I am happy to pay my taxes," he said. "My tax lady will confirm that statement."

Ladd said it is her responsibility to pay her share. She's an heir to the Standard Oil fortune, so that share is a whole lot more than the average American's.

"To weasel out of paying isn't responsible," Ladd said. "We don't need more tax cuts, particularly ones for the wealthy and not for middle or low incomes. I really feel it should be fair."

Ladd is active with Responsible Wealth, a group of very-high-income taxpayers. When there's a tax break for wealthy individuals, they figure the difference in what they would have owed under the higher rate and donate it to charity.

Bremberg said he tries to "look at the big picture," to keep taxes in perspective. Bremberg has friends who are firefighters and police officers, their salaries paid by taxes.

"People aren't going to come forward to give the billions of dollars to keep America what it is" without taxes, he said.

Syndicated investment writer William Valentine once headlined a column, "Taxes are good."
"In aggregate, paying taxes is a reflection of having earned money," Valentine said from his office in Bend, Ore., home of Valentine Ventures investment management group. "The more tax you've paid, that means the more you've earned."

As to why people continue to hate taxes, he said: "Perhaps many of us are reluctant to give up income or net worth for something other than a direct benefit to ourselves."

That attitude is far different in Sweden, where the tax burden on citizens is more than double that of the United States.

Total tax revenue as a percent of gross domestic product in Sweden in 1999 was 52.38 percent compared with 26.02 percent in America, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Those percentages reflect all types of taxes paid.

Yet Swedes don't complain.

"Sweden is much more egalitarian," said Nina Ersman, press counselor for the Swedish Embassy in Washington. "We look to communal solutions for things. We want to have good hospitals, good roads, lunches for all schoolchildren. Our tax system has been tailored to help do that."

Not many Americans feel that way. Team IRS in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., sells a variety of items emblazoned with tax humor. Business is slow, owner Andy Frisque said.

"Since 1999, we've sold fewer than 10 'I love taxes!' T-shirts," Frisque said.

Copyright 2001, New Orleans Times-Picayune.