Ludwig von Mises Quotes

It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part.

No taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.

I won't raise taxes, because I do not want to punish the people for the politicians' mistakes.

Some people say that taxes are the price we pay for civilization. But the runaway taxes of our time are the price we pay for being gullible.

There can be no such thing as 'fairness in taxation.' Taxation is nothing but organized theft, and the concept of a 'fair tax' is therefore every bit as absurd as that of 'fair theft.'

Americans tend not to be too enthusiastic about having their taxes raised again....But if the American people aren't going to accept it, if the politicians don't have the courage to raise taxes, what are we facing down the road?

A certain amount of taxes is of course indispensable to carry on essential government functions. Reasonable taxes for this purpose need not hurt production much.

One thing is clear: The Founding Fathers never intended a nation where citizens would pay nearly half of everything they earn to the government.

I dislike paying taxes as much as anyone, but yes, taxes are the price of civilization. There is no America without taxes. The question isn't, "Do we want to have taxes?" The question is, "How heavy is the burden, and who bears that burden"?

Our tax policy is engineered by people who view tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure.

I have continuously said that, at the very minimum, the Bush tax cuts for income under $250,000 should be extended.

Tax policy is not about compassion.

I think that taxes have to exist. They should exist at the lowest possible level, and to the extent that we can, we shouldn't invent more. Maybe that's my experience being mayor of New York City, where we had so many taxes.

I just think that - when a country needs more income and we do, we're only taking in 15 percent of GDP, I mean, that - that - when a country needs more income, they should get it from the people that have it.

I'm not for no taxes. That would be an anarchist. I am for lower taxes.

It is my absolute intent to hold the line on taxes.

Look, only in Washington is not raising taxes considered a tax cut. Nobody's getting a tax cut here. We're not cutting taxes. We're preventing tax increases from occurring.

At a certain point, you can't tax people beyond a certain level.

There's a lot of evidence you can sell people on tax increases if they think its an investment.

Taxes are the lifeblood of Government

When a government finds itself in the calamitous circumstances where it … must tax its people heavily, it behooves it, so far as possible, to see that all those who are liable pay according to their means, and that a proper assessment is made of them. In this way, the middle class is not taxed in order to spare the rich, nor the poor so much more burdened that they no longer have any possibility of improving their condition. Labor is encouraged and industry not deterred. Trade remains free and restricted as little as possible, and so far as possible taxes are levied on objects which go beyond necessity, coming under the category of luxuries, and are therefore conditioned on the choice of the people .

You can't have a rigid view that all new taxes are evil.

I cannot support taxing the taxpayer.

I'm not going to raise taxes.

We have to have an adequate number of taxes and an adequate amount of taxes.