'Tis the season for taxation

In the spirit of the season, I decided to write a short note about taxes.

While diligently working on my taxes this weekend, rather than just going quickly through the forms (yet thoroughly, of course!) I took a closer look at how much was taken out of my pay at both the federal and state levels. In short, it’s a lot and it turned out that no matter how many times I calculated and re-calculated the data, I wound up owing the government more than I’d like to give.

As I was holding my pen, staring at my tax form, I reflected on where my tax money was headed and if I supported how it was being spent. I suppose I agree that I should pay taxes to some extent, but to whom should it go and how much should I have to pay? I’ll just take a look at Medicare/Medicaid.

I decided that in general, Medicare sounds like a reasonable program. It is in place with a primary focus on helping elderly citizens (65+ years) and other people that fall into very specific categories (like those who are disabled, need a kidney transplant, have ALS, etc.). I feel that these people have not done anything “wrong” and just need some help in paying for health care costs.

I am not so sure I agree with Medicaid and I find eligibility for the money falls into more of a gray area for me. Medicaid benefits those people in society who have low incomes and resources – they include low-income parents, children, elderly, and disabled people. Many of these individuals have probably honestly fallen on hard times and simply cannot afford health care costs. However, I am afraid that others are taking the Medicaid as a “free lunch” of sorts. I do not like the thought of my hard-earned money going toward people that are just skimming by, able to work to support their own health care costs, but unwilling.

There are many other programs that taxes support and I found an interesting little calculator that roughly shows you where your money goes: http://www.taxbreakdown.org/

As for the “how much should I have to pay” question, I am still thinking about that one…