TAXES QUOTES
quotations about taxes
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy, November 13, 1789
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Everybody's Political What's What?
The nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose.
WILLIAM SIMON
attributed, Replacing the Federal Income Tax
The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward.
JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES
attributed, The Harvest of a Quiet Eye
The American people do not want us to raise taxes, period, full stop, makes for a really nice, tidy, talking point in this big fight. It does not, however, appear to be a true talking point. The most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to poll on this question showed that when asked if they would support a federal surtax, an extra tax on people earning over $1 million a year, 81 percent of Americans said, yes, they would support that -- 81 percent of Americans, just perspective, do not agree that ice is cold or the word "duh" has a "t" in it. But 81 percent agreed raise taxes on millionaires. That we can agree on.
RACHEL MADDOW
The Rachel Maddow Show, July 6, 2011
If you are like me, Tax Day always comes with some emotion -- be it anxiety (did I do it right?), panic (I'm not done!), or going postal (where are my damn stamps and why am I in this line?).
NORA RANNEY
"Tax Day 2017: Taxes and All the Feels", National Priorities, April 18, 2017
The layman is far more inclined than the expert to trust paperwork as a shield against tax liability. Tax lawyers are bombarded at cocktail parties with tax schemes, offered as proof positive of the speaker's astute sophistication, that would not convince the most inexperienced revenue agent or that teeter on the brink of fraud.
BORIS I. BITTKER
"Pervasive Judicial Doctrines in the Construction of the Internal Revenue Code"
The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall.
DENIS HEALEY
attributed, British Tax Review, 1989
It's income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.
DAVE BARRY
attributed, Contemporary Tax Practice
Income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf.
WILL ROGERS
Sanity Is Where You Find It
Read my lips: no new taxes.
GEORGE H. W. BUSH
RNC acceptance speech, August 18, 1988
All money nowadays seems to be produced with a natural homing instinct for the Treasury.
PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH
London Observer, May 26, 1963
The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of squawking.
JEAN BAPTISTE COLBERT
attributed, The Theory and Practice of Taxation
Tax is never a stand alone issue. Tax is what you collect from the prosperity of the people, so if businesses are not thriving and individuals have no income, there is nothing to call tax.
TAIWO OYEDELE
"Experts enumerate impediments to doing business in Nigeria", Vanguard, June 7, 2017
Don't get excited about a tax cut. It's like a mugger giving you back car fare.
ARNOLD H. GLASOW
attributed, Quotes Worth Repeating
Every advantage has its tax.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
"Compensation", Essays
Even Albert Einstein reportedly needed help on his 1040 form.
RONALD REAGAN
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 1985
Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.
LEARNED HAND
The Art and Craft of Judging: the decisions of Judge Learned Hand
One difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.
WILL ROGERS
attributed, Total Encyclopedia of Living Quotations
They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.
AL CAPONE
attributed, Capone