Students, stop tax excuses
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09/20/2002
As a university student in Shanghai, I am ashamed to learn that many of my classmates have not paid their bicycle taxes this year or in past years and have no intention of ever paying them.One day when I was buying the 8-yuan tax ticket, one of my classmates surprised me by saying that I was foolish for paying the tax. I asked her why. She didn't explain. Actually, campus gossip offers several explanations for non-payment of bicycle taxes. One is that policemen simply will not stop university students to check their tax tickets because university students are too "credible" and too "good" to be targets. This "explanation" seems to be the prevailing reason for bicycle tax evasion. Street policemen only stop poorly dressed bicycle riders and never stop a neatly dressed university student. Another excuse is that the rich are the biggest tax evaders and the government should concentrate on them and leave university students alone. The next excuse points to the poor state of some roads and cites several cases of road accidents claiming that one should cease to pay bicycle taxes because the government has shirked its responsibility for providing good roads. This argument uses the same justification that you do not have to pay for bread if it is stale or sub-standard. The last excuse merely asks why pay the tax when others don't. This is the worst excuse. Some may say: why make a mountain out of a molehill? Well, the answer is that while evading bicycle taxes may not be a large offence, it does show the inner quality of a person. Also, there is no telling if you will be caught one day. Evading paying the bicycle taxes is just like evading paying a bill or a bus fare. It is something a responsible citizen should refrain from doing. It is a pity that university students - bright, dynamic and progressive - should fail such a small test of citizenship as payment of bicycle taxes. Suddenly, outstanding academic achievements do not matter. And what is worse, they use their learning to invent spurious reasons for non-payment of the tax. They distort the theory of taxation and use it to mean the opposite. I strongly suggest that we should be more sensible and strict with ourselves and fulfill our obligations.
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