Without clear definitions of theft, taxation, and related issues like consent and government, it is really impossible to come to any reasonable discussion.
I'll offer theft as the taking of resources without consent from the original claimant of those resources. We can go from there.
Taxation is extortion - you are forced to pay taxes to participate in a society that raised you and you grew up in, but didn't make the choice of growing up in.
You are essentially receiving a service (Healthcare, protection, infrastructure, education etc.) and it is expected that you provide payment for such services. (Just as it is expected that you pay for a service such as a car repair)
Theft: "taking of another person's property ... with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it." The INTENT of taxation is not to deprive the taxpayer, but to provide services that would be infeasible without said taxation.
(Fallacy is broken window fallacy but it wasn't in the list)
You can't say the taxee benefits from something that equally hurt him before, if that money didnt get taken from him he'd use it on something else.
It's the broken window fallacy because it's like saying breaking your window creates a job for the window maker, who can spend the money somewhere else, etc. etc. boosting the economy. Disregarding that the value created was already lost when the window broke.
ubister
Fallacy Of Red Herring
The question of whether theft occurred hinges on consent to the exchange, not whatever the taxee may receive from government independently from being taxed.
bellicose_turkey
Fallacy Of Irrelevant Purpose
What taxes are used for is irrelevant to assess whether or not they are "theft", which should hinge solely on the definition of theft.
odnapetlya
Taxation is merely a rental fee charged in exchange for residency within a given domain. A municipality issuing a tax for residency is no different than a landlord charging rent for a room, save that the "room" is significantly larger.
Society gave you the opportunity to create wealth, or the opportunity for your family to create wealth for itself. Without society you would not have money, so it is not yours to begin with. Society is generously granting you a small share of the profits that belong to it.
Agreement (consent) is the thing at issue, but by saying "tax has the implicit agreement of society" you are presuming consent exists, without evidence, in order to make your argument.
bellicose_turkey
Taxation is necessary for a government to function effectively, which in turn allows the government to serve its people. In short, taxes are payment for governmental services we otherwise take for granted.
Just because taxes may be necessary for a government to function does not mean they are not theft. The payment analogy is also a false analogy because I do not choose which government services I buy and which I do not. I also do not consume many of the services of which money is taken for.
augusthippo
cheesecycle
