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What if California’s tax collectors went on strike? One would guess that Californians would cheer them on. We would all receive a short respite from the high tax rates of California. However, California tax collectors are still on the job, but, in Greece, last week the tax collectors went on strike. You have to wonder if anyone noticed in Greece as the country has a very high tax evasion rate.
There are lessons to be learned from Greece’s tax collection system. The tax collectors were protesting the 10% cut in salaries but they were also protesting the Government’s effort to tax the collectors the same rate of tax as other Greeks. Incredibly, certain employees in Greece have a different tax table. These favored professions include the tax collectors (and many other civil servants) as well as taxi drivers, engineers, and architects. Understandably, other non-favored professions regard this as unfair.
One of the reasons that tax evasion is so high in Greece is that the majority of Greeks regard the system as unfair, thus, allowing them to rationalize their evasion. In California, we need to work towards a fair and simple tax code that collects the revenue we need but in a way most people are confident that tax is collected fairly and equitably. Failure to do that would be to undermine the collection of tax. If everyone evades tax, then it becomes almost impossible for the government to collect. California certainly does not need striking collectors or tax evasion!
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