Tax resistance is one of the most heavily debated areas within Christian anarchist circles. Paying your taxes supports the repressive state that is responsible for the mass poverty (often due to heavy handed taxing) found in this country and others. But taxes pay for schools, hospitals, roads and rubbish collection. They also pay for tanks, missiles and unmanned drones........
Throughout Christian history there have been groups (often decried as heretics) that have refused paying taxation, most famously the Quakers, who refuse to pay for government’s wars.
The Bible is filled with more passages on refusing tax then paying it. Even the great “render unto Caesar” passage (Mat. 22.15-22), so often quoted in support of the state, can be read as Jesus’ warning against taxes. His question of whose image appears on the coin contains hints of the issue of idolatry and graven images so prevalent in Jewish society, especially considering a war was fought simply over a statue of Caesar being placed in the Temple. And so Jesus is warning his followers against caring too much for money. The passage continues “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”, as the coin bears Caesar’s image it belongs to him and so should be given back. However if that is the case then what belongs to God is what bears God’s image and should be given back. Now it is a strongly held belief in Christian tradition that humans are made in God’s image and therefore belong to God and not to Caesar. So not exactly a call for his believers to refuse the tax but it is certainly a lesson that there are more important things then money and taxes and that we are not bound to Caesar and his rule.
Another example from Jesus’ ministry involving taxes is his dealing with the Temple tax (Mat. 17.24-27). Jesus asks his disciple who is required to pay taxes, the son’s of the king or other people’s sons? Other people’s comes the answer, which Jesus goes on to explains means that children of God are exempt from paying taxes to the Temple. To avoid upsetting the authorities Jesus then pays the tax using a coin found inside a fish, an act not of submission bowing to the powers that be, but of ridicule and cheek paying with money that belongs to know one, and so is worthless.
In one of his parables Jesus puts tax collectors in league with nonbelievers, the worst kind of sinners(Mat. 18.17). He also eats with a tax collector (Luk.19) to make a point that no one is beyond salvation, even someone considered so evil by the Jews as a tax collector.
It’s not just Jesus who has a negative view of taxation in the bible. Throughout the Old Testament taxes are only introduced by tyrants and cause nothing but suffering on their subjects. Pharaoh introduced one during a period of famine when the people had nothing else to give him(Gen.47).
So it would seem that once again the Bible is not authority’s friend when it comes to taxation. There is virtually nothing that supports the paying of taxes, however there is also no commandment of thou shalt not pay income tax. So tax avoidance comes down to the moral decision of the individual and in the current economic climate and with many unpopular wars being fought with suspect tactics, it is a moral dilemma that is becoming more and more prevalent. Combine that with the news of big business and the super rich avoiding their taxes and it becomes a very hot topic that today’s Christian should not shy away from.
This piece was mostly influenced by an article written by Reverend Nemu http://theoccupiedtimes.co.uk/?p=4763
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