Taxes are mandatory levies or financial charges imposed by a government on taxpayers to raise revenue for funding its expenditures. These payments are collected from specified sources of income and activities, such as employment earnings or the sale of particular goods and services. Former American President Benjamin Franklin asserted the permanency and inevitability of taxes by equating them to death. Notably, most people focus only on the federal personal income tax since it constitutes the largest deduction on the earnings of an individual. However, despite the direct impact of the levies on the household budgets, taxes are critical in supporting governmental expenditure, including offsetting costs of delivery of public utilities and services, such as road construction and healthcare. Although federal income tax is levied on my employment earnings, the sales taxes I contribute whenever I purchase items have both positive and negative effects on my life and family members.
Governments levy different taxes through which they raise revenue to finance public expenditure. For instance, the generated funds from sales tax are channeled towards delivering services and supporting projects such as constructing health facilities, road infrastructure, and running food assistance programs (Alawneh, 2017). These expenditures enhance the quality of life since they expand access to utilities such as healthcare services, improve mobility, and generally reduce the cost of public goods (Arora & Chong, 2018). From this perspective, the imposed levies positively impact our lives by easing movements and subsidizing various healthcare expenditures. However, the federal income and sales deductions have an adverse effect on households since they reduce the disposable earnings and reduce the dollar’s purchasing power.
Taxes are mandatory fees charged imposed on taxpayers and constitute the largest source of government revenue. The generated income is used to finance public expenditures, such as providing services, funding infrastructure projects, and running food assistance programs. These deductions are critical and positively impact the lives of the people since they are used to fund easier mobility, expanding healthcare accessibility, and minimizing the cost of public goods. However, the taxes are also detrimental since they exert additional pressure on household budgets by reducing disposable incomes.
References
Alawneh, A. (2017). The impact of public expenditure and public debt on taxes: A case study of Jordan.Accounting and Finance Research, 6(3), 10─23. Web.
Arora, P., & Chong, A. (2018). Government effectiveness in the provision of public goods: The role of institutional quality.Journal of Applied Economics, 21(1), 175-196. Web.