TAXES VS BILLS

(Originally Published October 13, 2009)

Something I discovered during my time in the insurance industry is the difference in mind people have towards taxes and bills.

Nobody likes taxes. They are always too high, challenging to calculate, and there’s nothing you can do about them. When you have a query it takes hours on the phone to reach a person who will be extremely unhelpful because they have a host of other things to do and your call is an inconvenience. No effort is made by anyone to appease your dissatisfaction. You may not even need, want, and/or use the services your taxes are paying for.

Nobody likes bills either; however they are preferred over taxes. Bills can be too high, but they can also be very low. A billing department calculates them for you, making them easy to pay. It can take hours to contact someone if you do not like or disagree with the amount on a bill, but it could also take mere seconds. You can challenge a bill, complain to a manager, or take your business to a sea of other service providers if you’re not happy with your results. If you are dissatisfied you may occasionally be compensated with services, discounts, etc. If you don’t need, want, and/or use the services your bills are paying for you can cancel those services and save the money.

This is one of the ways in which the private sector is better then public in economics and in morale. Nobody wants to pay taxes but don’t mind so much paying a bill. If the government left more things to the private sector then taxes could be lowered because there are fewer programs that need funding. If there is a demand for a product or service the private sector will always recognize and supply it. Even if a person is spending more money on the bill than they would have if it were part of their taxes, the aforementioned benefits of bills over taxes make people more appeased.