My Last Name Means Money

Income tax is avoided by the rich and paid by the middle-class

Photo credit to OhioProgressive.

In the superb state of Massachusetts, where Mr. Money currently resides, three ballot questions lie alongside the state senators, representatives and presidential candidates. These three ballot questions propose to eliminate the state income tax, decriminalize up to one ounce of marijuana and ban dog racing. Mr. Money will most likely vote yes across the board, but for the purposes of this site, let’s discuss question #1 and its pros, cons and why Mr. Money is voting in support of eliminating the Massachusetts state income tax.

Amongst this vast vault of reasons, avoiding taxes is simply not one of the reasons. Shockingly, it affects me in no way, as Mr. Money will have such a low taxable income this year [due to being "retired" for most of the year] that all my income taxes will be refunded. So it’s not a hatred of taxes that drives Mr. Money to vote yes on question #1, rather it’s a love of freedom and a firm belief that government should not tax positives, like a worker’s wage, but rather should tax negatives, such as pollution, traffic and drug addictions (e.g. increase cigarette and alcohol taxes).

In a truly democratic society, we should not discourage people from working hard. The income tax does so by punishing someone for earning an income by taking a portion of that income. The income tax thus encourages individuals to lower their taxable income and find ways to avoid paying a tax. Usually, this income tax is avoided by the richest amongst us. They are either rich enough to hire the best tax attorneys and accountants who can manipulate accounts to severely lower or completely eliminate a tax bill or stingy or greedy enough to straight out cheat. In other words, an income tax most directly harms the middle class as they are the ones most likely to pay it.

So if you live in Massachusetts, send a message to the state government and vote yes on question #1. Truthfully, the government will likely ignore the public, even if we do pass question #1 so vote yes on it knowing that public services will not be affected. Mr. Money believes a tax is necessary, and proposes taxing the negatives of society as noted above, including pollution, drugs, crime, traffic, over-consumption (via a non-essential goods sales tax), and even possibly an excessive wealth tax. However, to directly tax an average worker’s wages is immoral and counter-productive. Let’s find a better way Massachusetts!