Article April 8, 1985 Issue

Income tax and honesty

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"How do you pay your income tax? ..." our friend asked rhetorically, and after a pregnant pause announced, "With honesty."

My husband and I looked at each other. Just a couple of hours earlier we had been advised to hedge a little on our tax return. "No one would possibly question if you padded your expenses a little," the tax consultant had said. "You've kept them so low." His argument had sounded so plausible and the action justifiable. It didn't seem fair to be penalized for being economical, perhaps even sacrificing.

Yet our friend said our taxes were paid with honesty. And frankly, right then that was all we had to pay them with. We did have that God-given moral quality. We had a spiritually based resource that could not be wasted or even inadequate. A resource that would grow with use and always be available to be drawn upon.

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