ABSTRACT
Tax finance is a form of economic exploitation and a problem for class analysis. Every important change in the balance of class and political forces is registered in the tax structure. When capitalism was developing within European feudal society, the bourgeoisie used the tax system to compel the nobility to adapt the state to the requirements of private capital accumulation. Throughout history tax systems have reflected international rivalries and have been registered in the booty. Ruling classes normally attempt either to conceal or to justify or rationalize tax exploitation ideologically. New taxes are served up with slogans—for example, "tax fairness or equity" or "improving incentives". Tax exploitation is concealed from the taxpayer in advanced capitalist societies. The federal government uses tax rates and the tax structure as instruments of fiscal policy for economic stabilization and growth. With the growth of new social classes and class formations, the forms of tax exploitation change.
