QandAs: Legal

What is a Tax?

Answer:
A tax is a payment required by law of individuals

or groups that goes to support the operation of government. The requirement to pay the tax is called a levy, and is either adopted by the government requiring the tax or by the people agreeing to tax themselves through the election process.

Taxes can be levied by local, state, county or federal government and whichever entity of government levies the tax gets to collect it and determines what the money will be used for. The most common forms of tax are income taxes levied by the state and federal government and sales taxes levied by county and city governments.

Taxes fund all aspects of government, from police and fire services to the public library. Without taxes much of what you come to expect as free government service would either disappear or be provided on a fee-for-service basis. Imagine paying to use the park or having a police officer charge you to investigate a burglary.