The Johnny Denovo Mysteries

With changes to the US tax laws being implemented, it’s worthwhile taking an inventory of the metaphors used by those involved.

In some cases, taxes are metaphorically linked to health, as in “tax relief” (pain relief) and “tax burden” (disease burden). There is even the “death tax,” as if wealth could indeed be carried into the hereafter and the IRS exists in the netherworld (sorry, but it’s a tax on the remaining wealth and the living recipients of it, so it’s very much a “life” tax).

In other cases, taxes are linked to country club mentality — the dues we pay for services, the price of admission to a civilized society.

Another metaphorical framework for taxes is fairness. Tax cutters believe that fairness revolves around the rate of tax, and usually this leads to wealthier people paying a rate commensurate with that paid by the middle-class or lower-middle-class. Progressives believe fairness is best achieved by allocating taxes along a sliding scale, so that those who benefit the most (the wealthy, they argue, because they sit atop the infrastructure and get more benefits from it) pay the highest rate while those who benefit the least pay the lowest rate.

Living in Massachusetts (which is often called Taxachusetts), our neighbor New Hampshire is notable because it eschews the sales tax. For them, taxes are a metaphor for government, and removing the sales tax is a form of freedom.

Yet, Johnny recently mentioned after a trip to New Hampshire that their metaphor depends deeply on the taxes of the other states being in place. That is, New Hampshire’s lack of a sales tax only looks like freedom because the state stands apart in its choice. If other states chose similarly, New Hampshire’s feeling that no sales tax equates to freedom might evaporate.

In essence, Johnny concluded, New Hampshire’s choice is about being different, not about being free.

So as we move to tax deadlines and changes in our tax code, watch the metaphors people use, how they interrelate, and what they connote. In the current economic tumult, how we think about money is vital to making good choices.