Is it right to pay taxes to a corrupt government?

Shri Anil asked: Some people try to avoid paying tax to the government because they feel that, by paying tax, their hard-earned money is going into the pockets of corrupt government officials and is not actually reaching the needy. Could You kindly give Your opinion on this?

Swami replied: If you find an opportunity to not pay tax or minimize paying tax, you can use that saved money for feeding beggars and the poor. But you should also note that there are some good officers in the government, who are not interested in corruption. The best way is to pay tax to the government and also propagate true spiritual knowledge in the world. The propagation of spiritual knowledge will ultimately eradicate corruption. In this program, God will certainly help you. The whole problem of corruption arises due to the lack of spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge preaches the existence of the unimaginable, omniscient and omnipotent God, who punishes sinners even if they escape from the law of the land using the influence of powerful people, corruption or clever tricks. If this spiritual knowledge is given importance in the education system as was done in ancient times, there will be no need of the police and courts. Citizens will develop an in-built resistance to sin. They will avoid corruption, not due to the fear of the police and courts, but due to the fear of the omniscient and omnipotent God from whom no one can ever escape. In the absence of such in-built resistance to sin among the citizens, corruption can never be eradicated using only external control in the form of the police and the courts. The external systems of control invariably fail because they too are affected by corruption!

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