Lawful Rebellion

Across the centuries there have been hundreds of tax revolutions from Limoges in 578 AD where residents were encouraged by the local clergy to riot destroy tax-collecting paraphernalia and threaten the assessor (punishment included torture and crucifixion) to the English poll tax riots of 1990. Lady Godiva stripped over tax, the Magna Carta was created courtesy of a tax dispute and America was founded on the principle of No Taxation without Representation.

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Yet in spite of the courageous actions of our ancestors, taxes have increased.

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According to The Tax Payers Alliance, the average UK household will pay £1,101,255 in taxes over a lifetime - the lion’s share being made up of income tax, VAT, national insurance and council tax. Further taxes include alcohol duty, inheritance tax, petrol tax, road tax, airport tax, property sale tax, tax on cigarettes, capital gains tax…the list is endless. And still they add to it. Green Tax, clean air (ULEZ) tax and of course the ghost tax caused by the devaluation of the pound courtesy of QE.

 

If you asked people why they paid tax, the answer would probably be because it enables the government to provide services, such as roads, street lighting, libraries, education and healthcare.

 

The real answer is we pay tax because hundreds of years ago someone had a bigger stick than us, claimed the land as their own and then charged us for using it. The rent seeker creates zero wealth and earns their money from piracy. That’s not to say we’d want to empty bins, lay tarmac or amputate our own leg, but the tax system is not only out of control, it's fraudulent and possibly illegal.