The Importance Of Taxes In The United States

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Taxes. Businesses and individuals are required to pay them, but what are they? Merriam-Webster defines a tax as the following: “A charge, usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.” (Merriam-Webster) Taxes in the United States are typically frustrating. There are countless rules to follow, several forms to fill out, and overall it is time consuming. As a taxpayer, what is the first thing that comes to mind when a conversation about tax cuts occurs? Is it wanted? Most consumers would likely say yes, but is it a good situation for the United States economy as a whole? Well, that depends on who is asked. While yes, less taxes do allow for consumers to potentially have more money, it may not always be the …show more content…

Having more money in pocket does not guarantee all consumers will spend more money. Conversely, it does not guarantee they will not spend money either, but there is no way to predict the number of spenders versus savers and how that will affect the economy. Yes, economists still attempt to create accurate models that try to gauge the impact of these cuts, but even with these modes, there is still no way to fully prepare for or predict what will happen. There have been countless articles and headlines regarding the tax cut that took effect at the beginning of this year (2018), but has anyone truly noticed a difference? Obviously not everyone will benefit right away and we may not be able to tell all of the impacts it has on the economy for a few months or even years, but there does not appear to be the immediate impact that many Americans were expecting. Historically, it has also taken long periods of time to see the impact of tax cut. As the James Stewart reported for the New York Times, “Even 10 years after the 1986 law, “it was very difficult to tease out the impact of tax reform on the economy,” he [Professor Alan Auerbach, Professor of Economics and Law at the University of California Berkley] said. “The best estimate is it didn’t have much effect.” (Stewart) Now, this does not mean that there was or cannot be any benefit from tax reform, far from it. In fact, there

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