{"id":6473,"date":"2017-10-17T07:33:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T12:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=6473"},"modified":"2017-10-10T13:29:23","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T18:29:23","slug":"october-22-2917-paying-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/october-22-2917-paying-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"October 22, 2917–Paying Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sign in the window says the drink costs 99 cents? What will the final price of the drink be when the cashier rings it up? Why will it be more than 99 cents?<\/p>\n

Paying Taxes
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In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to one of his friends that \u201cin this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.\u201d As Christians, we might argue that the only thing more certain than death and taxes is the generous love of God, but Franklin is correct that in life each of us will have to deal with both death and taxes.<\/p>\n

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In late September, President Donald Trump announced a new tax proposal that will attempt to completely overhaul the American tax code. (1) While the details and implementation of the new proposal still need to be worked out in Congress, any change to our complicated tax code will likely impact nearly resident of the United States. For some people, changes in the tax code could bring reduced tax bills. For others, changes in the tax code come mean increased tax bills. While the changes being discussed by the President and Congress are focused on income taxes and business taxes, even if you are currently not working at a job, you still pay taxes. Each time you go out to eat, put gas in your car or buy a new shirt, you pay sales tax.<\/p>\n

Who pays taxes and how much each person or company is required to pay will continue to be in the news until the President and Congress agree upon a plan. Regardless of what they decide, however, taxes will continue to be a required, if unpopular, part of our life together because taxes provide the money necessary to public services like roads, first responders, health care for senior adults and public schools.<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n