Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- It is legal to minimize taxes without a patriotic duty to pay more.
- In plain terms
- You can plan to pay low taxes and you don't owe extra.
- What can you take from it?
- Tax minimization is permissible and not unpatriotic.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is there a moral duty to pay taxes?
- How do you balance law and ethics?
Another view
Some argue citizens have a moral duty to support public goods.
More from Learned Hand
When I hear so much impatient and irritable complaint, so much readiness to replace what we have by guardians for us all, those supermen, evoked somewhere from…
Permalink to quote #13 With the courage which only comes of justified self-confidence, he dared to rest his case upon its strongest point, and so avoided that appearance of weakness …
Permalink to quote #15 I shall ask no more than that you agree with Dean Inge that even though counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them.
Permalink to quote #12
Related quotes
There is nothing sinister in so arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible.
Learned HandLearned Hand quote #42 And when you are poor and have to carry The Christian creed and wife and children All on your back, it is too much! That's why I made the Elixir of Youth, Whic…
Edgar Lee MastersEdgar Lee Masters quote #4 I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth; I am a citizen of the world.
Eugene V. DebsEugene V. Debs quote #5