Income Tax and Me: Why Pay Tax?

Elsewhere in this blog we have seen "what is income tax" and "what is an income tax return." One question that people often ask is "Why should I pay tax?" Let us look at the reasons you should pay your taxes:

Common public needs:

We all live in separate homes but there are certain common requirements - roads, railways, water supply, health care, education etc. We cannot all have a separate school for our children, a separate hospital, airport or expressway! All that must be common and is, therefore, collectively termed as "Public Utilities".

Funds to fulfil these needs:

Huge funds are needed for setting up this infrastructure. E.g., we cannot personally afford to buy a fighter plane, but we can pool in money in the form of income tax and give it to our government. The government can build or buy fighter planes to protect us, our fellow citizens and our country's other resources.

Huge administrative setup:

Projects like defence, internal security, public welfare etc. have to be managed by the government. Lakhs of workers are needed to implement these projects successfully. If we do not pay our taxes, the government cannot hire these workers. The projects cannot be implemented, resulting in inconvenience to all.

Weaker sections of society:

Basic needs like water, food and medical attention are every person's birthright. The government and its agencies design and implement programmes to make these available to those who cannot afford them. Funds are needed to ensure that the programmes achieve their objectives. Revenue generated by way of taxes helps fund these programmes.

We can thus see just how much power we have to change for better, the quality of our own lives as also that of our fellow citizens. The easiest way to use that power is by paying our taxes and paying them in time.