how long would it take a western society to collapse if no one payed tax?

Answer 1

The whole concept of a society is that people pay toward the maintenance of essential services, so really the question is meaningless as if everyone stopped paying taxes then the society as such would not exist, it would simply be a collection of individuals. What I assume you mean is how long would it be before the money ran out, and the answer would probably be days at the most.

Answer 2

Boojum is absolutely right in saying if nobody paid taxes, a state of anarchy would exist which, by definition, means that there is no longer any "society".

Ignoring this for a moment, the other issue that you would need to address is how would a government react if all its taxpayers stopped paying? To what extent would they suspend or halt expenditure in areas such as education, healthcare, social security, civil service, etc? If they completely halted that expenditure immediately, they could obviously survive a lot longer. After all, a government can only provide these services if the taxpayer is willing to fund them.

For the sake of argument, though, let's assume that they kept on paying for these services in the absence of tax income ...

You have to remember that not all of the treasury's income is made up of taxes. It varies from country to country but, in western Europe, around 15% of income derives from investments and loan income. In addition, treasuries could tap into state owned assets and reserves. It's hard to say how long these could hold out but it would certainly not be more than a few months, maybe a year at best.

In the meantime, of course, there would be a state of civil war and probably global war, but that's another story.

Answer 3

Well its beginning to already, there are not as many earning a wage and paying tax these days. But they would not be able to dispose of bodies for a start, think about that! There would be no education. No bins emptied, that can lead to disease very quickly. I would imagine not many months and we would be in a real mess. It is a scary thought, especially more so if you live in a city or a town. Take the police out and its a matter of days I should think.

Answer 4

About a year. After the government started printing money and inflation went through the roof and no one would accept it. Check history where it took a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy a loaf of bread, etc. I'm too old to remember where, but maybe Germany in 1920's and Brazil in 1990's.

Answer 5

Much more time than it is going to take with us paying taxes and having them used for wars and space exploration while millions of us live in poverty.

Answer 6

Lets find out by not doing it!!!

Answer 7

i doubt anybody enjoys it. but i wouldnt want to go there