OUR VIEW: Roads, rights and refunds are not so taxing

If you are reading this and have not filed your tax return yet, you might want to think about it. April 15, lovingly known as Tax Day, is one of those days that everybody dreads (it’s today, by the way). Why do you hate it? Do you not understand how your taxes actually benefit you? As a student at Utah State University you have probably never thought about how much it really costs to run the university. Though tuition is more than you think you can bear, it is less than half the amount needed to fund all of the school’s research, facilities and projects. Research. Many of the professors that teach your classes have their research funded through grants from federal agencies like the EPA, FDA, USDA, NSF and many more. Oh yeah, and you are probably one of the many students receiving a nice scholarship, Pell Grant or federally subsidized loan to pay for your experience. If you have filed a tax return, most likely you are getting a refund. That does not sound like the act of an oppressive government. If you add it all up, you are getting a pretty good deal, even with all the military spending.
    Still, some may cry, “Lower my taxes!” The belief that middle- and low-income persons are burdened by the U.S. government with outrageous taxes is a fallacy. “Tax the big business!” Many uninformed Americans believe that businesses do not pay taxes. Actually, corporations, while benefiting from many write-offs, are still taxed a rate approaching 40 percent. Increasing their taxes decreases profit and making it difficult for them to make more jobs. The thousands in Detroit would not have much work without the existence of those corporations. Tax incentives for corporations exist to encourage economic growth.
    You probably sleep well at night because you live in a relatively safe neighborhood. You may have recently borrowed a book (for free) from your local library, which you drove to on a fairly smooth road that you did not have to pay a toll for driving on. If you are more eco-minded, you may have even used the complimentary public transportation system to go and get your groceries. If you really have a problem with the taxes you pay in this country, you might think about those in Japan or Germany whose income tax approaches 50 percent of their income.
    Like the freedom in this country that came from the sacrifice countless young lives, the services that keep you safe and allow you to go to work without come at a price. An immigrant from Tyrol wrote these words: “Every right bestowed upon you by your country begets a corresponding duty. We are promised the pursuit of Happiness. We are not promised happiness. We are promised equality of opportunity. We are not promised riches. We are promised Freedom to speak and to write. We are not promised wisdom. We are promised liberty we are not promised peace.” Pay your taxes, smile and remember the very small price you are paying for something so valuable.