Interesting response in the blogosphere over the last few weeks to the report in The Times that Pope Benedict XVI plans to issue a doctrinal pronouncement condemning tax evasion as "socially unjust" and denouncing tax havens and offshore bank accounts, claiming this reduces tax revenues for the benefit of society as a whole.
Paul Caron's TaxProfBlog cites the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana quoting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi saying that tax evasion has led to the enormous budget deficit. "Why, when I go to Mass, is this issue almost never touched upon in homilies? If memory serves, St Paul exhorted the faithful to obey authority."
Richard Murphy's Tax Research blog says it shows attitudes to tax evasion are changing. The Opinionated Catholic blog makes the excellent point that people will make one obvious argument: the Church doesn't pay taxes. And Corpwatch reminds us that while he's at it, His Holiness should ask Gucci, Prada, mick jagger and Microsoft to pay their taxes.
I disagree because 1. a very large percentage of tax revenue is wasted and 2. A large percentage of what remains is given to private banks (and indirectly, Papal investors who don’t themselves pay any tax) to pay interest on loans to governments. Those loans being made up of Fiat Money; money that did not even exist until it was created by the fractional reserve system. We are enslaved by that immoral debt and anyone supporting either does not understand or is participating in a deception.