Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Is taxation theft?
Position‹4 of 4: Yes, taxation is theft, but theft can be justified

In capitalist societies, the state imposes an excessively expansive notion of property rights, such that theft may on occasions be ethical. If the state prohibits anyone from acting on the perception that theft is justified, it must be willing do so itself.

Supporting arguments · 3

Property is a state-granted privilege, that government can revoke
Individuals lose the ability to freely use resources when other individuals or groups claim them as property. Therefore, in establishing property rights, societies privilege the beneficiaries while depriving the rest. If the state is to impose this arrangement on society, it must retain the ability to modify it.
If property rights are justified on consequentialist grounds, they should not be viewed as absolute
Resource scarcity may necessitate some restrictions on individuals' ability to use certain resources. This is often used as a basis for a consequentialist justification of property rights, based on the notion that their absence would lead to social or economic disfunction. However, this leaves the door open to consequentialist justifications for the revocation or violation of property rights in certain situations.
Property rights do not exist as natural rights but as social conventions
There is no natural right to property over one's income or wealth. Property rights are merely part of a system of social/legal conventions concerning resource usage, and that system can justifiably include instances where some rights are revoked.