ABSTRACT
Benjamin Franklin's famous quote in his letter to Jean Baptiste Le Roy in 1789 – “But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes” – seems just as relevant today as then. What are taxes and why do governments collect taxes? Simply, taxes are compulsory levies on private individuals and organizations by governments for two general purposes: (1) to raise revenue to finance expenditures on maintaining a satisfactory economic growth rate, promoting economic stability (e.g. legal, infrastructure, education, and defense, etc.), and distributing income to conform to society's currently held standards of equity; and (2) to discourage the consumption of goods and services with high social costs (e.g. alcohol and tobacco). Taxes can be levied on many aspects of economic activity; for example, income, wage, property, value added, sales, and inheritance, etc. Focusing on the Architectural Plan for Profit, taxes can affect all of its various components in one way or another.
