Tax and imprisonment from the government is not immoral
The puzzle of tax compliance by citizens can be explained by the recognition of the role of government ethics as well as individual behaviour. In this regard, citizens should comply with taxation as enforced by the government and not behave selfishly, and irrationally that could lead to their arrest and imprisonment for tax evasion. However, Korman argues that it is immoral for the government to tax and subsequently imprison the citizens (112). The argument is that the government at times engage in practices that are morally questionable such as imposing a law that indirectly punishes the poor and the minorities in society especially the distribution of tax money among different agencies and programs. Korman argues that the most basic and seemingly uncontroversial functions end up being ethically wrong, and this includes the government tax rules, and to those who do not own-up, they are imprisoned. Additionally, Korman advances the arguments against taxation and the subsequent imprisonment by turning the idea that three is no difference between extortion and taxation as practised by the government or the difference between kidnapping and imprisonment. In this regard, I argue that it is understandable for an individual to comply with governments decisions, especially those that concern taxation, without necessarily considering the ethical perspectives of the acts.
Tax keep society secure
I argue that that, people to establish the government with the sole aim of keeping the society secure and to achieve this goal, taxation is a must as it is the functional income that keeps the set-up government running and hence failure to pay tax is similar to in securing the country and the perpetrators need to be imprisoned. The act of paying tax is a noble and moral exercise that every citizen should engage in not only as a way of supporting the government and society at large but a way of ownership and feel part of the country. However, most arguments against taxation such as Korman’s are based on the activities, distribution as well as the programs that are initiated with the tax payer’s money which is mostly unfairly distributed, the money is not appropriately prioritized, and hence it leads to the tax not serving its purpose of securing the society amidst massive corruption (Korman 110). The concept of taxation and its fairness contains an unaddressed idea that suggests the level of fairness that the public expects from the government. Further, citizens should concede that equity in the distribution of tax has nothing to do with the collection of charge and the morality that is attached to immediately.
The is a three-basic model of taxation from which the perspective of tax can be viewed, and they include individual right model, ownership model, and covenant community model. First, the covenant community model recognizes that individuals have the right to have a property while understanding that there is an externally imposed claim upon all members of a given community to abide by the community laws such as paying tax. Additionally, the concept brings about the idea of justice and the protection of private property, although it has been diluted by utilitarianism and empiricism (Alm 26). On the other hand, the ownership model means that the government would tax all properties such that the government presumes to own all properties and hence receives tax revenue from them. The model has been adopted by many countries globally. The other proposed model is the individual right model which assumes that very individuals have the right to own a property justly obtained. From these models, one may insist that it is okay for the government to imprison the people who evade paying tax as they will be considered as criminals for breaking the law. Korman equates the act of collecting tax and imprisonment to kidnaping as the government does not have the right to compel people to pay tax.
Tax or imprisonment
Some people argue that the citizens are never given other options to choose as they should pay tax or be taken to prison by the government in which the government is seen as a robber. Korman’s argument against taxation and imprisonment turns the idea that there is no act that is morally significant between the tax evaders and the corrupt people in government who do not use the collected tax prudently for the benefit of the people. In this regard, by insisting on collecting tax with the only alternative being imprisonment, Korman sees that as a robbery where the government forcefully picks money from the citizens and use it for selfish interest (Korman 112). At this point, the morality of taxation comes into play as the tax collectors, the government, does not show course as to why the tax collected. Neither is the benefit of the collected tax seen by the citizens and hence the government do not have the moral standing to imprison people who do not pay tax. Besides, the difference in ownership is also essential as the money or the property that is taxed does not belong to the government. Still, to the individuals and in this case, the individual has the liberty to either pay tax or not and should not be imprisoned for it.
In this case, I argue that there is a balance between the rights and responsibilities of citizens such that they have the right to enjoy a peaceful society and, in that case, they must pay tax failure to which they should be imprisoned as a method of punishment since they leave in a secure society that has been protected by the government through other people’s tax. According to Alm, tax is an inevitable aspect of life, and that individuals do not like owning up to taxation, given that it affects their income. To this end, they would take a variety of remedies to limit the liability, including evasion. Still, it must be paid for society to be secure, including the citizen and their property (12). Tax evasion comprises illegal actions that are unintentional and usually taken by individuals or firms to reduce tax obligations. Although the measurement of evasion is complicated, its impact on society is extensive. Therefore, the government should maintain their stand of imprisoning tax evaders given that tax is a critical component of an economy and without it, a countries economy will cease to exist, and that includes the lack of infrastructural development and increased insecurity which will endanger the citizens. It will be difficult for them to enjoy their rights and freedoms. In this case, it is the responsibility of the citizens to pay tax and the government to use the tax for untended purposes to increases morality in taxation.