Why A Surprising Number Of People Are Happy To Pay Taxes

By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

In an episode of The Simpsons, the family is watching a news report about people panicking as the final hours tick away to pay their taxes on April 15. “Those fools,” Homer laughs. “I paid my taxes last year!” When Marge and the kids inform him that he has to pay every year, he freaks out.

It’s a trope, even a myth, that assumes everyone hates taxes, and paying them. That’s what I thought when I set out to research the issue. Using WalletHub’s data on tax burdens, I then compared it to WalletHub’s data on State Happiness Index, which focuses a lot more on public policy output evaluations and quality of life and economic situation, rather than climate and factors that few have control over.

Alaska was the state with the lowest tax burden, yet had one of the lowest rankings on the State Happiness Index. It was the reverse for Hawaii, one of the states with one of the highest rankings on a state’s tax burden. It also had one of the top scores for happy state residents. And it’s not about the weather.

In fact, my research showed the high tax burden states were just as likely to be among the happiest states as among the less happy states. It was the same for the low tax burden states. For the data, links, and methodology, please see my column here.

I know what you’re probably thinking. This is just one study, an outlier perhaps. But additional research for this column shows study after study confirming that not only are taxes unlikely to be related to one’s happiness, but some people seem happier to pay taxes.

Silicon Valley millionaire entrepreneur Scott Ellis, a California resident, explains why for MSN. “Taxes are the price that we pay to live in a civil society,” he states. “We have to do this together. There are examples all around the world of the power of effective government, and just like anything else, government needs to be funded. We should make it effective and efficient. I’m proud to pay the taxes I pay. I should pay taxes that are higher than other people because I have more wealth than other people — that makes sense.”

A report published in The Financial Times concurs that this is supported on the international level, not in just America.

“The 2022 World Happiness Report was recently released. Sifting through the enormous and fascinating data set collected, the 10 happiest nations in the world are, in order, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel and New Zealand. The UK is 17th and the US 16th. Are these happy countries also low-tax countries? On OECD calculations, these 10 nations have extremely high taxes. In all these countries, the ratio of total tax revenue as a proportion of gross domestic product is above, or typically much above the OECD average of 33.5 per cent. In fact, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden lie near the very top — at ratios between approximately 40 per cent and 45 per cent. The UK and US are low-tax. One interpretation of this is that the things that taxes go on to buy — an effective health service, social safety nets, environmental and financial regulation, defence against aggressors — are exceptionally important to human beings.”

Perhaps it’s not the amount that people are taxed, but what they get for it that seems to matter for people. We should focus on the level of services, whether the regime is perceived to be corrupt, whether folks feel that all people are being taken care of, and not just themselves.

Noted North Carolina storyteller Rev. Donald Davis told my class that a relative running for office always ran on a two-word slogan: “Higher Taxes.” And he never lost an election. “Sometimes public money goes further than private money,” he explained to the students.

Dr. John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA. His views are his own. He has published over 80 short stories, and is the author of the thriller novel “Branded,” published last year by Huntsville Independent Press, a novel of dark academia, conspiracy theories, and killer product placement. His second novel about a third party presidential campaign, is forthcoming in the Summer of 2026.