Constitutional Considering The Relationship Between Freedom And Taxation

One end of the taxation is attached to the property of citizens, and the other to the government. For citizens, the property is the patron saint of freedom, no property, that is, no personality; and for the government, the taxation is necessary to maintain the material basis of its normal operations. The realization of the balance between citizen’s property rights and national necessary expenses,in national taxation, is not just an economic problem, but a constitutional issues. Property rights, along with personal liberty, have been the main line in the developing history of Anglo-American constitutionalism. The constitutional taxation is the key to the successful road, leading Western countries to the constitutional rule of law. This paper studied John Dickinson’s famous pamphlet,A Letter from Pennsylvania Farmer,combing the history of Anglo American constitutional government of taxation, to extract from the western concept of taxation and taxation legislative tradition, from the height of the constitutional government, then elaborated the property taxation to one people, freedom and constitutional government is of great significance.The full text is divided into introduction, body and conclusion of three parts, of which the body is divided into the following three parts:The first part, try to review from the dimension of history to explore the tax element of Anglo American constitutionalism. In the struggle over the British aristocracy and the King of wealth interests expanded, and finally in the "Magna Carta" established the constitutional principle of “Without the consent of the nobility, the King may not taxed". This principle is examined through the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution, eventually developing a constitutional principle of "No Representative, No taxation". Council on behalf of the people took control of the nation’s money bag, the power of the king taxation limited, leading to the originator of limited government. As the "salutary neglect", combined with the traditional autonomy, the North American colonial political system deeply marked by the stigma of the mother country,and became the constitutional bridge and carrier of Great Britain in America. But when Great Britain attempt to break the progenitor system, the taxed American colonies at independence, to safeguard their own freedom. Political mechanisms and the formation of colonial thinking about taxation resistance struggle are later laid the foundation of American constitutionalism in the American Revolution.The second part elaborates: according to the British constitutional spirit of freedom, individuals according to their wishes freely dispose of their property, taxation is granted from the king’s subjects, not the king levied. And the Thomson Act makes the British taxation authority again penetrated the colony internal taxation area, the constitutional position of the touch the colonies in the British empire, which goes beyond the simple taxation on external problems, and become about colonial political status and important issues of the constitutional rights. In " A Letter from Pennsylvania Farmer ", John Dickinson indicate that, the Thomson Act while in Britain’s new taxation policy in the form of external tax on the export of colonial goods, but because the law force colony of the British empire can only import these goods from the British empire, then the Thomson Act and the Stamp Act are no different, all usurped the right to freedom of the colony established on the constitutionalism principle of "No representative No taxation".The third part, from the dimension of thought, and to further explain the Anglo-American constitutional government taxes and freedom from the Perspective of Ideology. Based Whig tradition, government taxation must obtain the consent of the majority of the people themselves or their own representatives represents. Without the consent of taxation on the legitimate exercise of power beyond the borders, violating the property rights of the people. The biggest danger of freedom is the autocratic government violating the people’s right of property tax on the evil. On the relationship between freedom and taxation, and Montesquieu noted that freedom leads to excessive taxation, excessive taxation will lead to slavery, thereby reducing taxation. To prevent good taxation into evil taxation, the power of government to tax must strictly check and balance. American taxation resistance struggle proved that, the Almighty parliamentary state, originally limited kingship arbitrary taxation to protect civil liberties and property of statutory taxation system, will be reduced to grab the alienation of "tax taxpayer wealth machine". Taxation is not only to comply with the statutory taxation doctrine that taxation legislative power exercised by Parliament, the development of taxation laws, but also subject to the constraints of the Constitution, that taxation must comply only with the consent of the constitutional convention of taxation, further said that taxation should meet the constitutional purpose: to limit the powers of government and protect citizens’ property and freedom.