Are all taxes "theft" or just the ones people don't like?

Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes - Benjamin Franklin

Pay unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's- Jesus

I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.- Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr.

"As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.” - Eisenhower

A rather vicious cycle has been at work for years. Reduced taxes on the rich leave them with more money to influence politicians and politics. Their influence wins them further tax reductions, which gives them still more money to put to political use. When the loss of tax revenue from the rich worsens already strained government budgets, the rich press politicians to cut public services and government jobs and not even debate a return to the higher taxes the rich used to pay. So it goes – from Washington, to Wisconsin, to New York City - Richard Wolff

Tax is not a four-letter word; rather, it's the price we pay for the country we want- Alex Himelfarb

Only the ones that favor one person over the other. Any tax other than a fair tax is theft to the person paying more than the rest

Taxes are not necessarilly theft. A fine levied equally on all to run our country and provide services that protect us from threats here and abroad is an acceptable tax. Tax becomes theft when you start levying punitive taxes, selective taxes, and sin taxes. The method of collection is also important, stuff like the income tax and property tax is stealing the fruits of your labour while stuff like a road tax isn't. Taxation for the purpose of forced charity is also theft.

Of course taxation itself isn't theft. It's only when a ruler takes people's money for themselves, and refuses to provide essential services with it.

But, yes, in the wing-nut "mind" they pick and choose which things they "like" (everything that is destructive to live and well-being), and things they don't like (everything that reduces suffering or saves lives).

That's why we call them wing-nuts.

Taxes which are collected illegally, like the income tax, or ones which are used for unlawful (unconstitutional) purposes, would HAVE to qualify as theft.

Sense ALL federal taxes go into one giant pot (Helvering vs Davis 1937) and are therefore fungible, ALL federal taxes must by definition be called THEFT.

Taxes are like rent. It's what you pay to be part of a civilized society.

I hate tax but I have to pay it. If you don't it's illegal end of the argument.

Are all "handouts" bad or just the ones you don't get yourself?

Most Americans receive some form of governmental assistance and don't even realize it.

"What the data reveal is striking: nearly all Americans — 96 percent — have relied on the federal government to assist them. Young adults, who are not yet eligible for many policies, account for most of the remaining 4 percent."

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/25/903911...

the whole point of the american revolution was taxation without representation. now, again, we are not being appropriately represented by the people in congress, so yes, all taxes are theft if they originate from a democrat or a republican

It's not theft. Taxpayers enjoy things like good infrastructure, good schools and so many things that we need. There are plenty of people who resent paying taxes but I don't think they always realize the benefits they do receive.