Nothing is Certain But Death and Taxes

By: David Stack | Posted: 26th October 2010

Every government has expenses to think of. These expenses are for the delivery of services to the people it serves. From the pay of government employees to service provision for the people, expenses are incurred at all levels.

How would the government be able to pay for these expenses? The cost of running a country is great. The answer is taxes. The taxes that are paid to the government pay for all the expenses that the government incurs to ensure that the needs of the people are met.

Taxes are financial charges that are levied upon taxpayers who may be individuals or legal entities by a state or its equivalent. Taxes are simply payments collected by a legislative authority or any contribution imposed by the government. Taxes are not voluntary and may be called as toll, tribute, custom, duty and more. These taxes may either be direct taxes or indirect taxes.

Taxation methods are a frequent cause of debate in economics and politics. The method of spending taxes also frequently come under scrutiny and debate in both political and economic arenas.

Tax collection is done by an agency that is specially designated to perform this function. In the United States, it is the Internal Revenue Service that performs this function.

There are penalties involved for failure to comply with the laws and regulations set by governing authorities regarding taxation. Penalties may be imposed if a taxpayer fails to pay his taxes in full. Penalties may be civil in nature such as a fine or forfeiture or may be criminal in nature such as incarceration. These penalties may be imposed on an individual or on an entity who fail to pay their taxes in full.

No one really wants to pay for taxes. Most people are unhappy about the taxes they are paying. You would often hear people complaining about the amount of taxes they would have to pay.

Without taxes, everything would grind to a halt. Everything would come to a standstill. Taxes are essential to any government to operate smoothly and efficiently. Taxes are the lifeblood upon which the government operates to provide each and every one of its citizens the basic and advanced services required to improve as a society and country as a whole.

There are many different kinds of taxes being levied. There are income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes among many. All these taxes are used by the government to provide for the people with roads, hospitals, schools, police, firemen and far more.

One source of taxes is income. Income taxes are taxes that you pay on income you earn. There are many ways that the government can collect income tax. Some of the taxes that are being levied on income include federal income tax, state income tax, local income tax, medicare income tax and social security taxes.

Then there are investment taxes. You are also expected to pay taxes on your investments. This is true if you make over $750 in one year from your investments. Make sure that you are tracking your earnings as you will be needing to file an income tax return and paying taxes on any profit that you make.

There are also other taxes like sales taxes, property taxes, corporate taxes, corporate taxes and excise taxes. Everyone has to pay taxes in one form or another.

And in this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.
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