Taxation as Theft for Individuals and Corporations

Abstract

The existence of any government, and thus arguably, of any organized society, would not be possible without one thing. This one thing is money, which, when taken by the government, is called tax. The first recorded taxes date back to ancient Egypt. Taxes must be paid in order to fund the activities of the government, whatever they may be. Without money, governments would have no continued source of revenue by which to operate. Due to the assumed necessity of government and the functions they perform in today’s world, the issue of whether or not tax is a form of theft is generally considered irrelevant, and thus ignored. It is often believed that taxation is simply necessary, so therefore it must not be morally or legally stealing. This paper will examine the critical yet complex issue of whether or not taxation is in fact theft – or something taken without consent – through the dual consideration of both individuals, on the one hand, and multinational corporations, at the other end of the spectrum. The paper will perform an analysis of “consent,” without which taxation must be considered theft, into three elements: whether or not taxation involves choice, whether it is an informed decision, and whether control over the tax exists.