Taxes, as we know, are part of life. Reasonable people would agree that it is necessary for the government to collect taxes to pay for essential services and goods. There is, however, debate as to the fairest and most productive way to tax people and businesses. One of the very interesting issues in economics is an examination of the perceptions of individuals regarding how the current tax structure/system impacts them. While most people have opinions about what could be changed, they often lack an understanding of what possible changes would do to them personally. For example, if an elderly person supports payroll tax cuts, they may be jeopardizing the social security that they are paid each month out of the paychecks of working Americans.
For your journal reflection, please take some time and think about both the taxes you pay and the benefits you receive from the taxes paid by you and others. In the first portion of your paper, describe the taxes you are required to pay and how they affect you as a consumer and employee. What impacts do the taxes you pay have on the economy as a whole? Are the taxes you pay regressive or progressive taxes? Please be very specific and detailed in your response.
In the second part of the paper, please discuss the benefits that you receive from your tax money and the tax money of others. (As a note, many people fail to contemplate all of the various benefits.) What impacts on the economy as a whole result from the benefits that come to people like you because of taxation policies?
