Why taxes must be paid

Nobody likes paying taxes. Especially when, as in Italy, they are too many, high, and even complicated to pay, with a series of deadlines piling up in quick succession. Yet being an honest taxpayer isn't just the duty of a good citizen, and a trivial way of respecting the law. There's much more, first and foremost, awareness of where the money is going, its essential nature, and the harm we can cause everyone through tax evasion.

Simply put, taxes are the main source of income for the state, and subsequently for local governments, to guarantee the backbone of welfare: healthcare, education, pensions, and security. Every euro we unfairly subtract from this budget is cutting from spending that affects the entire community and the well-being of the population. In practice, it's as if we were dipping into our neighbors' wallets.

Taxes also serve to ensure general maintenance (for example, road maintenance), on which Italy is consistently behind, and new infrastructure projects.

But they are also essential for redistributing wealth, even if only partially, and reducing inequality. If we don't pay them, we're contributing to a society with few rich and wealthy people and many who slide downward, even risking poverty.

Without taxes, the state would have no resources to pay doctors, teachers, police, judges, or public employees. In other words, many essential services would simply cease to exist or become private and therefore accessible only to those who can afford them.

Unfortunately in Italy the tax numbers just don't add up. registered taxpayers (i.e. those who have a declared income or an active tax position) are approximately 43 million, of which 42 million are individuals and 1,3 million are businesses and corporations.  Of these, approximately 22–23 million taxpayers have unpaid or irregular tax debts or positions, with tax bills already arriving.

According to calculations by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, there are approximately 100 billion in evaded taxes per year, equal to approximately 18 percent of the taxes theoretically due. In 2019 alone, In 2025, approximately 200.000 tax evaders were discovered in total. Among individuals and businesses: 116.000 had never filed a tax return, and 86.000 were completely unknown to the tax authorities.

Do you have any idea how much could be done, from kindergartens to repairing roads, from increasing health coverage to higher pensions for those currently particularly disadvantaged, with 100 billion euros?

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