Why Is Tax Bad?

⁴ for [government] is God’s servant for your good. … ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶ For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing.

Romans 13:4-7

⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

Mark 12:41-44

This week’s political headlines in the UK have been dominated by the accusation that the Labour party’s spending plans would result in families having to pay an extra £2000 in tax. Apart from the dubious method of calculation and the sleight-of-hand  trickery to  make it seem as bad as possible, the real question it throws up is why should this be considered a viable method of attack by one party against another? That it is so considered is clear, Kier Starmer and the Labour Party have been vehemently denying this claim all week.

We have a very poor and corrosive attitude to tax in our political culture. Even amongst Christians it is generally held as a bad thing, at best a necessary evil. Yet the New Testament clearly defines it as a something required by God. Taxes are to be paid in order that the authorities can work for our good. Of course, the tax burden needs to be shared fairly across the population and it is very much the case that the tax burden is very unfairly shared in the UK. But none of this alters the fact that taxes in principle are to be welcomed for the benefit of all, as required by God.

Fairness is an important principle in the levying of tax. One consequence of our corrupt attitude to tax is that government resorts to hidden taxes so that we cannot easily see how tax is being raised. So, the tax-free allowance has been frozen for the next several years by the present Conservative government and this will not be changed if the Labour Party were to be elected in July. It means there will be a significant increase in tax raised over the next few years, but those paying more tax will be those currently earning less than £125,140 a year. Everybody above that will not be paying any more tax! Similarly, proposals by the present Tory government to abolish inheritance tax (estate duty) only benefits those wealthy enough to have more than half-a-million pounds to pass on, those that don’t wouldn’t pay inheritance tax anyway.  Once again, the wealthiest carry less of the tax burden.  

If we were able to have open and dispassionate debates about tax and spending we could see much better how the tax burden was being shared across society. But as it is, the Tory Party seek only to relieve the very wealthy of their obligations to the rest of society – and to do so in a way that the rest don’t notice it – and the Labour Party is too scared to address the issue openly.