“The moral duty of the Christian to pay taxes and the moral obligation of the state not to plunder the citizen” – under this title, prof. Leonardo Salutati analyzes the social dependencies and obligations of citizens and the state from the perspective of Catholic social teaching.
In his entry, Prof. Salutati notes, among others that:
- the payment of taxes is not an expression of the citizen’s subjection to the State but, rather, provides the resources necessary to the State to pursue its institutional goals in favor of the individual members of the society;
- the first ethical duty belongs to the State, as it must demonstrate, through its acts, to behave honestly, particularly in the tax field;
- the reduction of taxes reduces the convenience of evading it and contributes to the perception of the tax system as ethical.
The entire text (in Italian) can be found on the website of the Aphonsian Academy: http://www.alfonsiana.org/blog/
