I Paid My Taxes

I Paid My Taxes

I paid my taxes every year since I first worked at eighteen,
I paid the payroll tax and the federal and the state,
I paid the property tax and the sales tax in between,
I paid without a structure and I paid at the full rate.

I paid my taxes, every dollar that I owed,
I paid my taxes, every year along the road,
I paid my taxes without a lawyer or a plan,
I paid my taxes because that is what I am.

I do not feel resentment of the wealthy for their planning,
I feel resentment of the system that makes planning possible,
Only for those wealthy enough to fund the spanning,
Of the gap between the obligation and the possible.

If I had the money I would hire the lawyers too,
I would not pay a dollar more than I was legally obliged,
I am not immune to the incentive structure running through,
The tax code and the opportunities implied.

But I do not have the money and the system is what it is,
A progressive tax that is regressive in its execution,
Where the marginal rate increases but the practice of the biz,
Of planning makes the effective rate a different solution.