Philanthropist and Not Corrupt

At the starting of every financial year we have to declare our investments and other applicable expenses which are, as per the rules of income tax department, allowed to be non-taxable. And later, for the same declarations, we have to show proofs. I think, almost everyone provides genuine proofs for the part under investments, mostly in form of insurance policies, but not so is the case for “other expenses”.

Other expenses generally include the following:- 
1. House Rent Receipts. 
2. Home Loan. 
3. Fuel and Maintenance: Expenditure on fuel for official duty.
Of the three, proof for only home loan, as I believe, is not faked, but proofs for other two are generally bogus. And the reason being, the sheer amount of proofs, which make their verification humanely impossible.
Why do people fake? It’s not a question which would require an expertise of a rocket scientist to answer.

Why am I writing this here? A few days ago, I had a discussion with some of my friends, who presented their arguments in support of such a practice and I would like to present the same here along with my own views.

Their arguments:

1. If we pay our taxes genuinely then it will only end up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, because of rampant corruption.

2. And, instead of paying it to the government and letting her waste our hard earned money on flawed policies, we must keep it with ourselves.

3. And, if you feel guilty for doing so, then wash away your sins by donating all the stolen tax money. (I wonder if anyone would actually do so).

What do you observe?

It’s a beautiful human trait, similar to the one exhibited by Arjuna, when he showed his reluctance to fight the war. Following is a quote from a book which applies wonderfully to the present situation.

The mind of man is indeed very clever, for, it always finds suitable arguments for what it wants to do, or for what it does not want to do. Wanting to get out of an awkward situation it deduces arguments which are sometimes too virtuous to be true.

Following are my views.

Yes there is ubiquitous corruption, but are we not becoming corrupt and justifying the actions of the very same politicians whom we so vociferously denounce as corrupt. On what grounds can we attack them if we are not clean ourselves?

We want clean and efficient system, honest and hardworking bureaucrats, sincere and visionary leaders, but do not want to clean ourselves. Is it possible? Let’s think…hmm…does it seem impossible? Yes, it is. Because the same bureaucrats and leaders who are later called corrupt get their training from our homes only.

And there are others who say that we should evade tax and then donate the same. Here it’s the same dangerous thought, which has no regard for democracy and its institutions, instead asks for subverting the same. It’s like saying if your ends are well intentioned then means does not matter. 
A quote by Nietzsche, “When you looklong into an abyss, the abyss looks into you”.

If we have once decided to live as a democratic country under a constitution and its laws, then it is our responsibility to abide by the same. And if we do have any problem, then it is only on us to fight for the redressal of same through constitutional means, instead of advocating “corruption”.

It’s a system, flawed may be, but still a better one than complete lawlessness. And with time we are sure to encounter or discover its problems and then an opportunity to correct the same. We should not miss them by blinding our eyes with our self-interests. It’s time that we honestly and sincerely accept that we all are corrupt and then should change ourselves, instead of living under our hypocrisy, and always calling only public officials corrupt.