Income tax is seen as an ethical practice of the state since it is used by the government to the benefit of its citizens. Ideally, the government provides goods and services to the public—considered part of the governmental expenditure. Such expenditure cannot be incurred unless the government obtains money through taxation. As noted by Adkinson and Palmer (2020), the income tax that is collected by the government from the employed is labeled as part of government revenues obtained from the employed. The government also generates its revenues from state-based businesses except the ones regarded as religious, charitable, governmental, and educational (Adkison & Palmer, 2020). Income taxation was initially set to pay for the civil wars in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the amendment. Therefore, income taxation is a legal practice and individuals ought to pay it to help government raise its revenue and consequently improve the delivery of essential goods and services.
As mentioned above, the main reason why government imposes a tax on individuals is to raise its revenues. These are the finances needed to provide government-based basic services to the people of the state. The theory of supporting government roles through contributing taxes was first proposed by Adam Smith, who believed that citizens should raise finances to sponsor governmental projects (i.e., provision of basic goods and services) (Alam, 2019). Such taxes are grounded in proportions of the income every citizen enjoys under the protection of the state. Simply put, those who earn more income should pay more so that the lower class in the state should also benefit. Basically, from Karl Max’s theory of communism its right for the lower class to benefit from other people’s work (Tucker, 2017). This is reasonable for every subject of the state in building the nation by contributing finances and receiving resources in equal measure.
References
Adkison, D. M., & Palmer, L. M. (2020). Revenue and taxation. The Oklahoma State Constitution, 183-246. Web.
Alam, T. (2019). Canon of taxation of Adam Smith, philosophical revelation, and a short comparative discussion in the context of modern taxation structures. SSRN Electronic Journal. Web.
Tucker, R. C. (2017). Communism—The self-regained. Philosophy & Myth in Karl Marx, 150-161. Web.