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TODAY'S TAX SYSTEMS–
And
How
They Will Be Changed
by
Jeft Calkins
Tax time, as one poet called it, is "the cruelest month." While you' re thinking of taxes ,
ask yourself how God views them-and then realize God has something far better.
N
OTHING
is
so cer t a in,
so t he say–
ing goes, as death
and taxes.
Don 't be so sure.
Taxes are not eter–
na!! I n the World
Tomorrow, man's tax–
ing systems will be
junked. Replaced by
God' s tithing system
that has been in force
from the beginning of
human life- but of
which most people
know little or nothing!
There are
big dif–
ferences
between
taxes and tithing.
Man 's system of
taxation is "progressive." That
means the
percentage
of tax goes
up as your incotne goes up. lf
your taxable income is relatively
small, your tax
rate
is small- in
the U.S. system, about 14 per–
cent. 1f it is large, say $100,000,
your rate can go as high as 70
percent.
God's system is far more intcl–
ligent: it is a flat percentage sys–
tem . The word
tithe
means
"tenth." A tithe of anything is
thc tcnth part of it. It is a
con–
stont
proportion.
lt
is based on the fact that God
owns all, but only claims a small
part of the increase produced from
the earth he created. Tithing is a
system totally
without
"respect of
persons."
It
treats the high income
earners the same as the poor. The
April 1981
incredible exertions
to have others–
usually members of
their own family–
receive their money
and pay the tax on it
at
much lower rotes.
They set up trusts.
They make interest–
free loans. They make
everyone in tbe fami–
ly (even the dog if
they could) their
"business partner."
In God's system, it
doesn't make any di f–
... fercnce. Ten percent
~
is ten percent-there
~
are no advantages to
~~~~~~e~ll;l::iiiil ~
having an artificially
~
low income.
"progressive" system is based on
envy
of the more wealthy- it deals
with people unequally, dcpending
on their income. The t ithing sys–
tem is totally neutral toward
who
you are.
K eep lt Simple ...
Many, if not most people, get
help filling out tneir income tax
returns. Why is man's tax system
so complicated?
Almost all the complexity in
our tax systems, believe it or not,
stems from just one thing- the
progressive rates! Because men
did not model their tax structure
on God's tithing system, they
have fallen into suffocating con–
fusion.
High income earners, because
of progressive rates, go through
~
Perhaps you have
heard of "tax shelters." They rep–
resent the kind of silliness to
which man's ideas lead.
A tax shelter is, essentially, a
glorified way to lose money!
What happens is that a high
income earncr needs to find a way
to "lower" his income, so he will
be taxed at a
lower rore.
So he
takes a little bit of his money, and
uses it as downpayment to buy
into a business. Of course, he bor–
rows the rest. And thcn what hap–
pens '? Thc business proceeds to
lose money!
And that lost money
offsets his other high income.
How wasteful! Man's systcm
encouragcs important peoplc to
put money in losing ventures.
Resources go into businesses that
don't makc as cfficient use of
them as othcrwise. God's tithing
7