Hi, Nick. Hey, Hannah. Nick, why do we pay income taxes? Why are we expected to give

some of the money we earn to the government? Well, I'm not a big time city lawyer, Hannah,

but I feel like it's like the government is expected to do something for us in return

for those taxes, right? By making and enforcing laws, providing security and protection,

giving us ways to live and work and travel safely, and to help us access basic things like food or

shelter. Yeah, that's the idea. But there's also something really important about our tax system.

We put a lot of emphasis on fairness. How can you judge if a tax is fair to the taxpayer? Well,

most people today accept the principle that a person should be taxed according to his ability to

pay. As a result, we have a graduated or progressive income tax. Look, I mean, no one likes paying

taxes, right? We all have to do it because somebody has to pay the bills. This is Joe Thorndike.

He's the director of the tax history project. Civics 101 talked to him back in 2017. But that means

that we want to make sure that everyone else is paying their fair share, right? I mean, that's the

that's the central trope of tax paying in America, their fair share. The idea that the more you have,

the more you are expected to contribute has been built into our income taxes from the beginning. And

there's supposed to be one government agency that oversees it all, the I R S. The internal revenue

service maintains a streamlined operating organization, which handles yours and the price. This idea might

make sense on paper, but in practice, it is tax season a dreaded time for some America

Americans feeling burdened as they complete forms that many argue have become too complicated. The I R S kicked off

this tax filing season with approximately six million unprocessed returns from last year. This morning, an

investigation reveals just how little some of the richest Americans pay in tax. It's wealthy taxpayers with less

transparent sources of income who are less likely to pay. They can hire lawyers and accountants to help

sidestep the tax collector. Many lower income people paid for tax filing when their returns should have been free.

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