I love paying taxes! Ooh no, don’t make that face. I know you think taxes are probably the driest subject to read about right after the Atacama Desert. But let me tell you, I love paying taxes, because what that money has brought to me in return is in fact very interesting indeed.
And as the covid-19 pandemic brought down whole health care systems, the importance of paying taxes, and them being used transparently has become a center stage issue!
This may sound like a completely foreign concept to many of you: “What would paying taxes bring me?!” Well, in many countries taxes don’t bring you much, but in Europe in general they do. As we saw in the States a while back when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the Finnish parental rights.
Visibly uneducated and ignorant commentators compared the Finnish state system to Soviet socialism. Funnily enough, none of them seemed to know anything about Finland, let alone Soviet socialism.
The Finnish tax authority quickly reacted with this response. And as a Finn, I can authenticate that the study results shown in the tweet are actually true. We love paying taxes because we know where our money goes.
8 Reasons Why I Love Paying Taxes
Let’s make one thing clear: in this article I talk about paying taxes in a country where tax money is used transparently. Thus, this article doesn’t really apply to 90% of the world’s countries.
My reason for wanting to talk about this, is to show you how tax money should be used, how it should benefit you, and how every state should handle it. So that you know to demand better next time it’s time to vote.
1. Tax is what pays for retirement
Well, strictly speaking not mine because I live abroad, but let’s skip over that now. A portion of income tax goes straight into our pension fund, which will then be paid out to us monthly when we retire.
How much you receive per month when you retire depends on how much you’ve accumulated along the years. So, obviously those who have had well-paid jobs throughout their lives will do better when they retire than those who’ve worked low-paid jobs.
Even though low pay in Finland may still sound like a lot in many countries, we need to remember that Finland is one of the most expensive countries in the world. Nonetheless, even the low pay is good compared to the rest of the world. I love paying taxes because it secures my future when I’m old.
2. Tax money pays for healthcare
This point is more important to make now than perhaps any other time in history!
May we take a moment right now to remember our fellow humans in the United States. The “promised land” where you aren’t allowed to be sick unless you can afford it. Literally. And most of the human kind definitely can’t afford it! Including us.
Thankfully we don’t need to! In the UK you’ve got the NHS, a state-funded healthcare system. A system that exists in every European country. All of these healthcare systems are kept running with tax money. So, when people think can money buy happiness, maybe not, but in a state-sense it ensures fair treatment.
In my life I haven’t had much need for the doctor, thankfully. But when I have needed healthcare, oh my goodness I am grateful for the system we have, which is why I love paying taxes! May it never be demolished or privatized!
3. Tax money pays for education
Not yours, obviously. But it did for mine. In Finland education is free. It’s free, because the schools are funded with tax money. And guess what else? Finnish education system is the best in the world. So absolutey, I love paying taxes!
I am forever grateful for the education I received in Finland. Our education isn’t about learning books by heart or concentrating on little geographical and political details in the vastness of the world we live in. Finnish education is about learning about the big picture:
- Giving you a strong foundation of basic knowledge of every subject.
- Because that base is what you start building on, when you start learning what you need in your professional life later on.
- Another big theme I remember from school as a whole was critical thinking.
Social media didn’t exist when I went to school and internet was a relatively new thing. But still we were already taught that whatever you see or read in the news shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Think critically, look for proof, always stay curious for the truth. Just imagine how valuable that education is today??!!
I’m taking a deep bow towards Finland right here, right now.
4. Tax money keeps you alive if you’re left unemployed
My recent trips to the UK have been shadowed somewhat with the incredible number of homeless people. I never saw homeless people in London when I lived there 8 years ago. It’s been horrid to see what happens when the system doesn’t support you.
Becoming jobless is rarely the jobless person’s fault. That’s why an amount of tax money should be allocated to supporting those who cannot make ends meet while they look for new sources of income. I love paying tax because there was a time when I needed it.
I’ve had to live on jobless benefits paid from tax money for 18 months, and I don’t ever want to end up in that situation again!
Even though I understood that I was beyond privileged (received over 1000€/month as benefits, had an apartment in the city center by the river, and was healthy), the mental strain of being jobless almost broke me.
The state support is the least that should be provided when you’re jobless. Life as a whole is hard enough then. You shouldn’t be asked to worry about having a roof over your head and food on the table as well.
5. Tax money pays for infrastructure
Libraries, roads, parks, winter maintenance, beaches, public transport, kindergartens, everything you see around you is (or could should be) funded with taxes. So, of course I love paying taxes.
Many countries in Europe use road taxes, which means you have to pay an amount each time you drive on a certain road. This money is then used to keep the road in good condition, and in some places to decrease pollution.
For me, who is used to the Finnish system where everything goes from taxes, this sounds like an awful load of hassle. Maybe it isn’t, but I’ve never had to spare a thought for it.
And that’s the point! When tax money is used transparently and for everybody’s greater benefit, your life is a shit-ton easier. Isn’t that reason enough to love paying taxes?
6. Tax money pays for safety
Who do you think pays for the police and the fire brigade? These institutions that guarantee that you and your family are safe. Correct, they are funded from taxes, which is why I love paying taxes.
What would happen if, for example, the police was instead privatized? Well first up, if you were a victim of a crime they wouldn’t need to give a toss unless you paid them a heavy penny. And calling the police in an emergency? Well, that would cost you a helicopter’s worth.
This goes straight to the next point where corruption would quickly become a huge security threat. On top of which regulations would become next to nothing. What does that mean? Well, let’s just say there’d be a lot more people shot dead by the police than there are today. In Europe, that is.
7. Taxes equalize the income gap
In Finland we have progressive taxation. This means that the more you earn, the more you pay. This has been shown to equalize the income gap significantly. This then has a straight impact onto equality as a whole in a state.
Do you still wonder how Scandinavian countries are so far ahead of everyone else in equality matters? It’s because we love paying taxes!
Yes, I agree that paying off 40% of your salary as taxes is a lot and seems unfair. But at the end of the day, do you actually need that money? And I mean need!
Everybody wants all the money they can have, but having the 40% tax means that your income is actually so significant, that you’ll have more than enough regardless.
8. Paying a bit extra gains you a nice bonus in December
In Finland we have this thing called ‘The Tax Card’. You go through it once a year, and you can basically determine your own tax percentage. The card gives you an estimate percentage, but when you give it to your employer you can tell them to tax more or less than that number.
I’ve never heard anyone lowering the suggested number, but I among many others have given my employer a higher number. At the end of the year the amount of tax that you’ve paid will then be compared to your whole income during the year.
And if it then turns out that you’ve paid extra tax, it’s paid back to you. That was definitely one of my favourite reasons why I did love paying taxes back in Finland.
This can mean a very nice bonus because the tax returns have been timed to occur just before Christmas. I know many people in Finland who use this tactic, and by adding just 1% or 2% to the suggested number you can get back hundreds of euros to spend on Christmas presents.
I love paying taxes – Conclusion
How does it sound? Does the phrase I love paying taxes still give you shivers? Or does it make you think that paying taxes is (or would be) actually worth your while? Or do you think that paying tax is just another burden we must bear as citizens?
The interesting question is, what would you like your tax money to pay for, for you? Let me know in the comments below, I’m actually super interested in this. ♥
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