[Music] look at you you are beautiful well to be honest some more than others but that's okay that's okay that's because you're different we are all different we've got different faces different Smiles we laugh at different jokes no wonder that we like different things some of us like running I don't like it some like dancing some even like brussels sprouts even if many of us dislike them yet there is one thing that we all dislike something that we are all forced to do but that we would put at the top of a wish list of
things that should disappear from the face of the Earth and that's it paying taxes who likes paying taxes in this room who wakes up in the morning saying Oh what a beautiful day today I'm filing my tax return do you know anyone like this well in this room there is at least one person who likes paying taxes it's me well you'll think think of course he likes paying taxes he lives on taxes on other people taxes he's a tax law professor in a tax Finance University and a tax lawyer but I'm not saying that as
a tax professional I'm saying that as a taxpaying citizen just like you taxes bring us the best out of our society taxes are the best investment you and I could ever make for us for children for our community but I can still see that you are not fully convinced that's because of three main reasons irrationality first we've got in ourself this irrational tax aversion we do not like taxes and we we do not even know why I'll explain you how irrational this aversion is ignorance we do not know enough how much taxes contribute to our
peace our wealth our well-being and finally Improvement of course our tax system are not perfect otherwise I wouldn't have a job but we can improve them we can reform them and I'll show you how but first look at that picture what do you see some would say a dog no it's not a dog because dogs don't drive this is a shopping animal the average consumer a study was made in the US showing that more than 50% of the people would drive half an hour at the other side of the city to buy a television for
a 9% discount these figures jumped to 75% if the discount was granted in the form of a tax rebate and the most absurd thing even if the value of the tax rebate was lower than 9% actually 8% so people would lose money to pay less taxes isn't it absurd another example who hasn't B overpriced and unnecessary Goods in a shop just because it was taxfree we all know that feeling so when it comes to taxation we completely irrational where does this irrationality comes from three main reasons history ideology and inequality at least the feeling of
inequality history you you know him you've seen the cartoon Robin Hood Robin Hood used to steal tax money from king John to redistribute it to the poor well I don't know if robinot existed but King John did and his high taxes too that he mainly used to wage Wars in in Britain and uh on the continent King John it was one of the worst kings in British history but is remembered even today because 800 years ago he granted to his people the grand Charter a document through which he reduced his power to impose taxes and
this Grand Charter is still part of the UK Constitution today but how come that we do not walk around carrying shorts or wearing tight green pants at least not in public we do not burn witches or try pigs in a court but still we see taxes as threatening as they were in the Middle Ages that's because of ideology we have deep in our minds this motto more freedom means less taxes less taxes means more freedom you know him during the the Electoral campaign that he won he said that it it was smart not to pay
taxes that money would be squandered by the government if it did pay well he won on this anti-tax ideology despite all of his voters in one way of another benefiting from tax-funded government services inequality when we see those scandals like the Panama papers or the offshore leagues or the Lux leagues or the Swiss leagues or any leagues you want we get angry because we have the impression that we are the only ones paying taxes while the rich and the powerful do not pay that's the impression we get from the media but what we do not
see in the media is that the vast majority of companies of individuals pay their taxes honestly regularly and that contributes to our peace wealth and well-being peace let's imagine for a second what a world without taxes would be let's imagine a city imagine streets imagine Parks Imagine Schools hospitals even courts prisons fire station police stations imagine the people nurses street cleaners firemen police officers teachers doctors Librarians well in a tax-free World forget about them they do not exist would you like to live in such a world I personally wouldn't well maybe some of you would
say well at least I would have my freedom at least I would have my property have you ever thought of what property and freedom mean in such a world empty words abstract Concepts without anyone without any institution to secure them but taxes do not only protect us from the worst they also help us achieve the best uh in life thanks to our high taxes we have reached a level of Peace wealth and well-being that is unmatched in world history peace have you ever compared the list of the highest tax country with the Global Peace Index
I did these are the most peaceful countries in the world and look the the first five countries seven out of the first 10 15 out of the first 22 most peaceful countries in the world are high tax countries some of you would probably tell me well they they're peaceful because they're rich and they're rich because they have a strong economy boosted by the private sector and that despite high taxes that's untrue because taxes they not destroy wealth they contribute to build it taxes Foster business with taxes government builds a stable legal framework efficient infrastructure a
reliable Financial system access to credit without them businesses can cannot start let alone grow taxes Foster jobs too not only public jobs government jobs but also private jobs because with tax money government buys huge quantities of services and goods from private businesses taxes also Foster Innovation with tax money government can make long-term risky Investments that the private sector would not do because too risky and sometimes this investment yield beyond the wildest expectations to give you some example the worldwide web the internet the GPS the microchip even the Google algorithm was developed thanks to tax funded
uh research program here in lalov 20 years ago a federal research Grant funded with tax money helped researcher developing the first implementation of the blockchain technology which today makes the internet secure worldwide would you think that this money was squandered by the government I certainly wouldn't and look at that country Denmark number one number one in what Denmark is the highest taxing country in the world it is also the happiest country in 2016 Denmark top topped the world happiness report and many other high tax countries figured well in this world happiness report why because with
tax money we do not only create wealth we also redistribute redistributed contributing to the overall well-being think about universal healthcare Universal education uh programs to help homeless people culture nature protection and many other things that contribute to our well-being so probably taxes make us much happier than we thought but we can be happy taxpayer without having to be naive or passive our tax Sy them well they need reform they to a certain extent tax rules look like they've been written with a typing machine and we are now in the digital era we need change we
need more Equity more transparency and more participation more equity tax rules well they're outdated and complicated and that creates unfair advantages for for some and undue burdens for others we need simplification we need tax rules that are in line with the development of the economy because we tend to over tax traditional forms of wealth like labor and Entrepreneurship while forgetting the newer one the other ones we need also more coordination at the international level we need more glob Global Tax rule Les domestic to be able to have a common Approach to Global phenomenons like for
example crossborder pollution multinational company International flows of capital we need more cooperation in order to increase transparency we did a lot in the last years as regards International Exchange of information so we are on the good path on the right path but we have to continue and we need also transparency not only as regards how money is spent uh we need also transparency as regards government programs we have to be more participative we have to be more collaborative we have to be more Innovative as regards of our power as citizen as the state first investor
to reappropriate ourself our tax system so if we get rid of our irrational tax aversion if we are able to realize that our taxes contribute to our peace our wealth and well-being and if we are able to make the necessary reforms then we will be able to pay tax taxes with more conviction and conviction is what we need today when we look at the challenges that lie ahead global warming Rising social inequalities security threats of all kinds to name but a few when we look at those challenging as individuals we may feel powerless but as
we have seen in history against challenges like starvation Wars disease if we pull our energy together if we pull our creativity together if we invest in our Collective institutions we are much stronger we are much strong Society but remember there is no strong Society without strong institutions and there is no strong institution with without proper investment so maybe changing the world could begin with paying your taxes and if that does not make you happy I really don't know what will thank you
