Tax

That dreaded three-letter word: Tax. No one likes that word. It means giving up our hard-earned money and putting it in the coffers of the government. Whether it is income tax or sales tax, tax is hard to swallow.

As you know, we pay income tax to fund programs on a national level. State or provincial tax funds state or provincial programs. Property tax is a civic tax for paying for essential services. However, sometimes we feel that we pay too much or the programs being funded are useless and not worth the funding. Nevertheless, others have different points of view different ideas of what programs are more important than others are.

The types of taxes are many. Capital gains tax on income from assets you have sold or won. Inheritance tax on money your grandmother left you. Corporation tax for businesses. Income tax on your annual household income. These are just a few of the taxes that we pay.

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The amount of tax we pay is dependant on many things. For income tax, the amount we pay depends on our annual income, whether we are married, single and the number of children we have. Other things that determine how much we owe are how much we donate to charity and how much we pay in childcare.

Of course, these things are different from country to country. Provincial or state tax is, of course, different in each province or state. The calculations are different, too. Each tax has its own complicated calculation, confusing the every day consumer. There are hidden taxes and the ones we know about. Gas has a hidden tax. In Canada, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is on everything from confectionary items to vehicles and homes. It also includes services, such as tire changes and restaurants.

Unfortunately, like growing old or dying, you cannot avoid taxes. They are one of the few guarantees in life. Taxes were traced back to Egypt, around 3000 BC to 2800 BC. The Bible also indicates that people had to give a share of their crops to the pharaoh. In modern times, taxes were initiated to fund the world wars. However, as the years came and went, people forgot the reason why we were being taxed, and the government decided to take advantage of the people's forgetfulness. Now, taxes are for social programs. Taxes have been around for a long time – longer than we imagined.