Income Tax Fnord

With my parents, I was helping my grandmother prepare her income taxes. I don't bother explaining "Taxation is theft!" to them. My parents and grandmother are retired, so they only have on-the-books income.

We spent two hours arguing about the proper way to staple your return. My parents and grandmother were overly paranoid. "OMFG! If we staple it wrong, the State will assault us! (charge a fine or deny a refund)"

Overly complicated taxation rules are part of the State brainwashing ritual.

There's the obvious explanation "Overly complicated tax rules are a job creation program for accountants."

There's also a deeper explanation. Overly complicated tax rules provide an illusion of importance and magnificence to the tax process.

Complicated tax rules are an evil fnord distracting people from "Taxation is theft!" People are concerned with jumping through the hoops, rather than recognizing the corrupt nature of the taxation process.

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Another fnord regarding income taxes is the phrase "Pay your taxes!" The phrase "your taxes" is an evil fnord. It implies that taxes are something that's a personal obligation I have.

It's more accurate to say "Pay the government's taxes!" or "Pay your tribute!" I get offended whenever I hear the phrase "your taxes", because that implies that they belong to me or I consented to them.

Even though I know "Taxation is theft!", all my current income is State-reported income. I have no choice but to pay tax on it. I'm not going to resist paying taxes on income that's automatically reported to the State, because that's silly and counterproductive. I have enough on-the-books savings that the State/IRS would merely take them.