Terry Pratchett on Menace of Taxes
on Wednesday, March 12, 2014Terry Pratchett Money Quotation saying taxes threaten us with ominous penalties when we fail to pay outside the rules which allow avoidance. Terry Pratchett said:
“Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces” — Terry Pratchett
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This quote from Terry Pratchett suggests that taxation amounts to an implicit form of extortion by the government. The best interpretation is that Pratchett viewed paying taxes as a veiled threat rather than a wholly voluntary civic duty, since non-payment can result in penalties, audits, liens or other legal consequences.
According to Pratchett, while taxation is imposed under the authority of law, it still carries an underlying coercive tone of providing funds under threat of potential menaces if one refuses to comply.
The implication seems to be that Pratchett believed the tax system, for all its legitimacy, retains an inherent quality of financially obligating citizens through implicit force rather than genuine consent. Overall, the quote portrays taxation as a sophisticatedly disguised though still compulsory transfer of private wealth to the state.
Birthday: April 28, 1948 – Death: March 12, 2015