Are Americans proud to pay their taxes? Vanessa Williamson of the Brookings Institute thinks so, after studying survey data and conducting interviews. She finds that Americans view paying taxes as a civic and moral responsibility, and the price of citizenship. She believes that “the idea that ‘Americans hate taxes’ has become a truism without the benefit of being true.” But this rather surface conclusion misses the point. There is a real distinction between a moral obligation to pay taxes and a legal obligation. Continue reading “Americans’ Moral Obligation to Pay Taxes – But It’s Limited”