Abstract
Following a theoretical prologue that seeks to define and critically understand the moral logics that support head, proportionate and progressive taxation, I examine the presence of each of these taxing options in Jewish and Christian thinking. Beginning with the Hebrew Bible this examination proceeds to the texts and practices of classical (Talmudic) Judaism, the Christian New Testament, and the later Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant teachings that derive from these key textual resources. I conclude that while there are significant differences within and between these traditions, and while each type of taxation has a presence, the advocacy of progressive taxation as a means of serving the least-off members of society and promoting social equality and opportunity is a leitmotif of the biblically informed religious traditions.
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Notes
- 1.
In his Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974, 52), the libertarian Robert Nozick accepts taxes when agreed upon for mutual protection, but rejects as immoral “redistribution through the compulsory tax apparatus of the state.” He adds that “taxation of earnings from labor is on a par with forced labor.” (169).
- 2.
Oden (1984, 175) observes that inclusion of the resident foreigner (ger) in this standard list of the unfortunate is particularly significant, since it means that distributive justice in ancient Israel was extended beyond even the formal Jewish community.”.
- 3.
For a fuller discussion of the agricultural tithes, see Chodorow (2006a).
- 4.
- 5.
Chodorow (2007a) also points out how difficult it would be to apply progressivity to the agricultural tithe. Doing so would require complex scaled measurements of agricultural produce from different sources and different fields. In addition, “Proportions were difficult enough to calculate in a society which had not yet discovered the zero. To suggest that such a society might have adopted a progressive income tax, with multiple brackets, changing percentages, and (presumably) a large zero bracket amount, seems a bit fantastic” (133). He concludes, “Given these difficulties, the decision to use a flat ten percent rate to determine the tithe likely reflects the need to make the tithe workable under the conditions of ancient agriculture and was not a conscious decision that proportionate taxation reflects a divine sentiment regarding distributive justice” (136).
- 6.
Because this commandment cannot be consciously fulfilled and its occasion must therefore be seen as a blessing from God, one later rabbinic commentary describes its fulfillment as a reason for the greatest rejoicing in the fulfillment of all the 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible (Tosefta Online, Chap. 3, Tosefta 13).
- 7.
Leviticus 25:40–41 sets the Sabbatical manumission at the Jubilee year. For a discussion of possible reasons for the differences between the relevant texts, see Wright (1990, 167–173).
- 8.
Citing several studies, Oden states, “In general, the research done in this area indicates that the Sabbatical Year may have been observed occasionally but only occasionally” (1985, 168).
- 9.
Although there is evidence that David used forced labor (2 Samuel 20), compared with Solomon and his successors it was “on a modest scale” (Oden 1984, 165).
- 10.
- 11.
Chodorow (2006b, 67) points out that while those who were destitute were largely absolved of the obligation to tithe, as an affirmation of the importance of Zedekah, even the poor were required to give the token amount of 1/3 of a shekel per year.
- 12.
Elsewhere, Chodorow warns, “the example of maaser kesafim is sufficiently distinguishable from a modern tax system that it would be difficult to look to the progressive rate structure as a clear model for such tax systems, but he adds, “At the same time, it should not be read to preclude governmental charity, including progressive taxation (2006a, 137).
- 13.
Swartley (1980) reviews various interpretations of this highly ambiguous text, ranging from those that see it as approving taxpaying to those that see it as a subtle counsel of resistance. Swartley observes that the very possession of the hated denarius with its image of Caesar, was deemed a sin in the teachings of the Pharisees themselves. Thus, when, at Jesus’s request, his questioners produced such a coin, they were already self-condemned as compromisers with their own law. Perhaps reflecting his Mennonite pacifism and discomfort with war taxes, Swartley concludes, “Jesus thus forbade the payment of the tax for those who are faithful, implying that once one has compromised so much as to possess the idolatrous coin, then the tax matter has already been settled in principle.”
- 14.
The Halachic basis for this obligation was found in the principles of dina de-malkhuta dina (“the law of the land is law”) and pikku’aḥ nefesh (the duty to save lives) (Elon 2007, 535, 537).
- 15.
- 16.
Curran reports that deLugo devoted an entire disputation of his Disputationes Scholasticae et Morales, (8 vols. Paris, 1869) to the question of taxation. “DeLugo divided that discussion into eleven different sections which covered sixty-five long pages in his collected eight volumes on moral issues” (Curran 1984, 114). My summary of deLugo’s positions is based on Curran’s discussion (1984, 114).
- 17.
The idea of geometric proportion in matters of distributive justice is prefigured in the writers of the scholastic period, notably Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica IIa IIae, Quest. 61, Art. 2.
- 18.
The “option for the poor” or “preferential option for the poor” is a concept that arose in the context of deliberations by the Latin American episcopate. The pastoral letter references some relevant writings (NCCB, 44 fn.).
- 19.
Something like this may have happened in the karma-driven, caste-based society of ancient India.
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Green, R.M. (2020). Head, Proportional, or Progressive Taxation: An Evaluation Based on Jewish and Christian Ethics. In: van Brederode, R. (eds) Ethics and Taxation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0089-3_5
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