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The Supreme Court in Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Lakshmindra Tirtha Swamiar (1954) points out that

tax is the compulsory extraction of money by public authority for public purpose enforceable by law and is not payment for service rendered.

This little gem I got while studying The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. A taxpayer cannot be considered a consumer under the act. Tough luck!

This public purpose for which tax is extracted cannot be considered a service for citizens. So what is this public purpose? To me defence, law and order are services. Why is the money being extracted if not to serve the people?

Compulsory extraction of money seems okay if the government does it. Extraction, extortion — not much of a difference. Just like there isn’t much difference between the local gangster and the local tax collector.

For sake of argument I shall concede here that taxes are inevitable to pay for defence and law and order. But then why hide and not be accountable for the security services offered?