“Tax” – Helps us Relax

Taxes. *yawn*. What an absolute bore, right? How many of us wait till the very last minute to pay them? I see a lot of hands raised. April 15^th—that dreadful day. You think I was any different? My hand was raised too! You don’t have to be ashamed because there are a lot of us out there. Did you know that more than half the population does not pay taxes?  Yep. I was one of them too. I hated doing my taxes, fretted every second while doing them and when finally, I did manage at the very last minute, I put it off till the last minute again. Rinse and repeat. It was a never ending cycle! Paying taxes makes a lot of people very, very nervous (like me!).

But you know what? It doesn’t have to be like that. Instead of worrying about taxes, you should be happy to be paying them because of the plethora of advantages that you get. I had a long chat with a couple of my “responsible” friends and they shared their wisdom with me. I’m going to tell you what they told me.

Here is why paying taxes is a good thing:

Social security

Let the little bit of punk rock that you perhaps listened to in your youth inspire you to think about this. Imagine you are living in an anarchic society. Everyone fends for themselves. It’s a dog eat dog world. Do you really believe everyone is going to play fair?

Nope. To each his own, dude! YOLO (For all the oldies: You only live once)! Government, umm, what’s that? So here’s what happens: You call 911 during an emergency, but no one responds.

There are no pensions, no unemployment insurance and no one cares about the disabled. It’s a pretty bleak situation, isn’t it? That will happen if you don’t pay taxes. In the larger picture, we might not think about these things, but they matter a lot. Just think of it like this: Your neighborhood is safer because you pay taxes!

Your taxes help the government fund the police. It helps your government arrange for medical care. Basic necessities that are required for every country to function are paid for through taxes. The taxes that you pay. Social security is no joke. We all need it. But if you don’t pay taxes, you don’t get it. Simple.

Public amenities

You like to drive your car on the highway with the volume cranked up on your favorite Metallica song because you love the freedom it gives you. Nothing like the wind rushing through your hair and your troubles behind you. What if there were no roads?

You drank a lot of beer in the restaurant and on your way back home, you realize that you really gotta go relieve yourself. Damn—no public washrooms. Public transport? You’re kidding, right? A park for you to walk your dog? Forget it! In the loud yells of how we are overburdened by the taxes we pay, we often forget how paying taxes affects our daily lives in the smallest of ways.

You may be able to maintain a house on your own, but will you be able to provide education to the less-privileged? Didn’t think so. If you want to understand how paying taxes affects us, you need to look at the larger picture: and the larger picture is not so pretty if you stop paying your taxes. Your private life may not suffer as much, but going out will be a lot harder if you don’t pay your taxes.

Economic Progress

God bless America. You have a huge American flag hanging on your house. You don’t take well to people talking badly about your country. You’re a proud, proud American—proud of what your country was and what it has now become. Such progress! Let’s face it—you are huge patriot.

But wait a minute, you grumble while paying taxes? Those two things don’t go well together, my friend. Paying taxes means an improved infrastructure which means more economic activity which further leads to opportunities of job creation. This will all add up to greater economic progress.

But it all begins if you pay your taxes. If people stop paying taxes, the wheels of progress are bound to come to a grinding halt and a true patriot would not let that happen.

So what’s stopping you?

Doing your taxes confuses you and is too hard for you to manage? Let me give you some good news: You are not alone. As I said before, more than half the American population does not pay taxes. This is only extrapolation but maybe it’s because people think taxes are too hard.

Let me give you another piece of good news that I also recently discovered: individual tax preparation has never been easier since the dawn of the age of the internet. To help you with your book keeping, now, there are several websites like 1800accountant that provide you with accountants which will make your job so much easier.

And it’s instant too! You can get financial advice on the go and there is little chance of you going wrong because of these experts who are available on your fingertips. So what are you waiting for, my friends? There is nothing to fear anymore. And yes, you should remember to pay them on time.

Taxes are good for you and not that difficult to do either. Sheer nervousness shouldn’t be blocking you from doing the right thing.

I hope these pointers push you in the right direction and help you understand why paying taxes is a good thing and there are not as evil as you might have once believed. Paying taxes does not just affect our lives in the longer run but even our day to day lives will not be the same if we don’t pay taxes as I have explained.

So, make a move and become a more responsible book keeper. It’s the more intelligent thing to do!