Here’s why we should love paying our taxes

April is tax season, a time to celebrate ourselves as taxpayers of America and Hawaiʻi who make collective contributions to the benefit of all.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine life without the things our tax payments support, such as ensuring that the elderly and poor have food, housing, and health care; that children get a good free education; and that our very lives are defended by the military, public health agencies, scientific research and environmental protections.

Research shows that most of us are proud to do our civic duty on tax day. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, our top concern about taxes is that the wealthy and corporations aren’t paying their fair share. In other words, we understand the value of taxes in building the world we want to live in and are proud to pay.

But we also understand that powerful interests have skewed the tax code in their favor and we feel the need to right this wrong.

Unfortunately, the recently passed federal tax bill is the opposite of what most Americans want, as it delivers windfall gains to wealthy households and profitable corporation, further widening the gap between those at the top and the rest of us.