Are Taxes Biblical?

Tax time. Everyone’s favorite time of the year, right? I’m sure those of you that will get a substantial, two thousand+ dollar return actually enjoy filing taxes. But for those of us that lost a huge chunk of our paycheck throughout the year and still have to pay, this time of year stinks. Atheist, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim…whatever your faith/religion might be, taxes hit us all the same. We’re all subject to the same tax code. So why do I keep hearing Christians claim that they shouldn’t have to pay taxes? I’ve even heard some Christians talk about lying on tax forms to get out of paying.

“Taxes aren’t biblical.” I’ve heard this a time or two. It’s easy to say things aren’t biblical as a personal defense, but how often do people actually check to see if something is biblical? Whether they checked or not, this one should be blatantly obvious. One of the most commonly sited verses from the Bible is “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” That’s not exactly word for word what the Bible says, but the paraphrase equals the same meaning.

Matthew 22:21
Yeshua said to them, “Nu, give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!” 

Most people claim that their money belongs to them because they worked for it. The verse above is talking about money in which a person worked for. The money simply had Caesar’s picture on it. All of our money is printed with imagery of our government. Does that not mean that our money belongs to them? Yes, we worked for it, but they printed it and put it into circulation. They allow us to use it as a form of currency in place of precious metals and other commodities.

“This is theft.” Maybe, but I don’t think so. Although our tax system is not fair, I don’t think that taxes are equivalent to theft. Since we’ve established that Jesus views worldly currency as belonging to the governing authorities, then the federal government requiring us to pay taxes wouldn’t constitute as theft.

“They can’t make me pay.” Well, they sort of can. The IRS has a lot of power and authority. Personally, I don’t think that the IRS is constitutional, but that’s not really the focus of this article. Pay now, pay a lot later, or go to prison. Those are really your only options at this point. We need to face the fact that our religion doesn’t exclude us from federal laws and federal obligations. I’m sure most Americans would love the opportunity to become exempt from paying taxes just by declaring themselves Christians, but I don’t see this happening anytime soon.

“Maybe I can fudge the numbers and get out of paying.” How can you call yourself a Christian and knowingly lie? I know that people do it quite often. I used to be the king of lies. That was, before I became a Christian. I still tell lies unintentionally, but I confess and correct my mistakes when they do happen. As Christians, we’re not supposed to lie. Plus, this is a big risk legally and financially. The IRS could see something odd on your tax forms and audit you. If they find out that you falsified federal documents, you could face some pretty heavy fines and possibly even jail time. The risk isn’t worth it. Just be honest. Then you don’t have to worry about seeking God’s forgiveness or a pending audit from the IRS.

As much as paying taxes sucks, they are biblical and should be paid.