Ha. Widespread tax evasion is not the fault of the banks. If there is a country where a huge proportion of people work in the grey and black markets then normal government tax policies don't work.
If governments don't have income then they can't do the things that they need to do. If you've got a country then I think by definition you require taxation, borders, etc.
I might be oversimplifying. Tax evasion becomes necessary when one knows they'd lose more money (than necessary) to taxes, especially when the benefits of the tax has not been or cannot be felt. If that's the situation, taxing becomes an exercise of government just because of nation and economic theories. The way to solve that isn't to surveil earnings and spending. It is to make a good case for why people should pay taxes. And usually, it involves spending the current tax money well.
> "The way to solve that isn't to surveil earnings and spending. It is to make a good case for why people should pay taxes"
What makes you say that? Has that ever worked?
IMO taxpayers should pay their taxes simply because they are citizens and that's the law. If the taxes aren't bearable or just or aren't spent wisely, then they should vote accordingly at the next elections.
Tax evasion does in fact reward the corruption that has led to tax evasion.
And the way to end tax evasion IMO is to (1) decrease taxes, as to make the burden bearable for everybody, but then (2) put tax evaders in jail, show no mercy.
> IMO taxpayers should pay their taxes simply because they are citizens and that's the law. If the taxes aren't bearable or just or aren't spent wisely, then they should vote accordingly at the next elections
Let's assume that this is the reason for tax obligations. What will be the equivalent statement made for the government? Government should collect taxes from citizens because it's the law to collect taxes from citizens?
Tax collection isn't a sport. It's toward national development. If one end happens (tax collection) but the other doesn't (national development), expect rational beings to change attitude towards the first.
Are you seriously saying draconian taxes are acceptable because you can decide not to pay them? This isn't how a democratic government is supposed to work. That's just pure anarchy and probably points to why Greece came into this situation in the first place. Citizens do not face the consequences of the government they elected and therefore they have no incentive to actually vote for politicians that want to solve the problem. Instead everyone is trying to break the rules in every way possible and then once a rare and naive guy gets into government and wants to suggest a real solution your little raft made out of discarded PVC pipes that you have carefully built over the course of your life isn't good enough anymore. Being forced to upgrade to a kayak is going to be painful but it will be worth it in the long run.
> If the taxes aren't bearable or just or aren't spent wisely, then they should vote accordingly at the next elections.
There's a number of assumptions in that sentence that I 'd like to challenge:
a) That people act as rational beings and will at the next elections vote to their best interest.
b) That people have the information to gauge whether taxes/resources are spent wisely
c) That the main contributing factor to people's voting preferences is taxation or spending of resources
d) That there is a lack of disinformation campaigns that will actively try to sabotage both a) and b)
I don't understand this at all. Let's use VAT as an example. The benefit of paying VAT is the ability to make a transaction. If you say the problem is that people do not see the benefit of a VAT because they can also make illegal transactions without paying VAT then the only solution is to enforce bans against illegal transactions so that everyone becomes aware of the benefits of making legal transactions.
> the only solution is to enforce bans against illegal transactions
And that has happened (for a very very long time now). The key problem being "enforce". Enforcing works up to a point and there is always the need for a cooperative public. The moment the public is distrustful of this institution (or any institution for that matter), everything goes down the drain. Look at https://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm... for the level of trust in the government greece has.
HA! The fault is, like in other southern European countries, of banks that steal 1% to 4% of EACH transaction, on top of the 0.1-0.5 maximum transaction cost mandated by the EU.
> If governments don't have income then they can't do the things that they need to do.
IMHO the problem is SPECIFICALLY that governments do not do things that they need to do, and yet demand money from citizens. Starve the beast.
Most European laws that help the general public, such as free healthcare, a sane amount of maximum work hours and the right to a minimum guaranteed standard of life are the direct result of this approach. Strikes do wonder, and so does refusing to pay; i suggest giving it a try once and see how it goes.
How are strikes an example of "starving the beast"? Are you saying strikes effect change due to the reduction in the tax revenue? I'm very much sceptical on that claim.
If governments don't have income then they can't do the things that they need to do. If you've got a country then I think by definition you require taxation, borders, etc.