Is there a grammatical reason for people saying “I pay my taxes” instead “I pay the taxes”?
Because I only pay mine, not everyone’s.
Why do people say "my taxes"
Submitted 1 week ago by deafboy@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 week ago
Nemo@slrpnk.net 1 week ago
I’ve got bad news for anyone renting.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 1 week ago
“My taxes” being short for “my share of the taxes.”
JeanMichelVase@jlai.lu 1 week ago
I’d say because the amount is personnalized to you. “My taxes” are not equal to “your taxes”.
Aetherial@nord.pub 1 week ago
Grammatically you are spot on, numerically you are missing a bit of nuance. In a society where everyone paid the same equal and fair amount, the ills we see simply would not exist.
Today@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I do my taxes. I renew my driver’s license. I pay my electric bill. I don’t understand how else someone would say those things.
netvor@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I do my taxes. I renew my driver’s license. I pay my electric bill. I don’t understand how else someone would say those things.
“I do taxes. I renew driver’s license. I pay electric bill.”
“I do the taxes. I renew the driver’s license. I pay the electric bill.”
As a non-native English speaker I know “my taxes” just sound most natural because–but only because–that’s how lot of people say it. :D
(Not that it’s relevant, but In my native language, Czech, we would not stress the “my” part, maybe only in case of the driver’s license, and even there, only indirectly by grammar. But I’m aware Czech is weird to most of the world… :D))
Today@lemmy.world 6 days ago
How do Czech pay taxes? Is it auto withheld from your paycheck or do you do forms and pay them periodically or both? Is it pretty quick or super involved or somewhere between?
We have witholding and then do forms between January and April to determine if we owe more or get some back. Those forms can be relatively simple or super complicated.
Atomic@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
Because your taxes are the taxes you specifically pay and are specific to you and you alone.
While the taxes are the ones everyone pay. Like, taxes on buying groceries, products and services.
LuminousLuddite@lemmy.world 1 week ago
[deleted]AmidFuror@fedia.io 1 week ago
Language differences always have deep cultural explanations and aren't just due to minor historical contingencies. Once a language change has locked into place, the associated cultural connection infects future users.
Next up: Why do Americans say things like "I wash my hands" while Spanish speakers say "Lavo los manos" (meaning wash the hands)? Probably something to do with end-stage capitalism and ownership.
SlicedPotato@feddit.dk 1 week ago
Because it’s my money they’re paid from.
DScratch@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
You could also class it as a debt in your name.
I’ve paid my debts.
I’ve paid my taxes.AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
you usually go in debt financially from spending on things you actually use
eg: I am in debt regarding to my house, I still have a few years of loan to pay. I was in debt regarding to my car. I am in debt for the camera gear I bought on a 4 month spread.
I do not get to use 90% of the shit my taxes go to. Vast majority of it go to other people, the military, and subsidies for rich people. That’s not a debt, that’s an involutary charity.
jeena@piefed.jeena.net 1 week ago
Interesting, I’ve never seen the tax part of the money which I’m getting as “my” money, I’m just a steward who takes it and moves it to the owner, I just hold them for practical reasons so that it’s easier to administer it (otherwise you’d need a parallel way of doing it).
Steve@communick.news 1 week ago
Who else’s taxes do you pay?
Are you paying taxes for everyone?
Or do you only pay the taxes you owe?Triumph@fedia.io 1 week ago
Definitely a thing in the US, and the subtext is "so I am deserving of whatever government services I use".
The subtext to that is that if you're poor enough to not have to pay income tax (never mind sales tax, fuel tax, property tax, etc.), that you don't deserve the government services you use, and that you are a freeloader at best, criminal at worst.
It's the kind of phrasing assholes use.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 week ago
Not sure why you’re assuming that subtext.
The taxes one pays are the obligation one has, therefore “my tax obligation”.
Not yours, not another person’s, mine.
akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
Interestingly, in my language, it’s an uncountable noun, thus we say “pay the tax”, even though it contains all the subcategories of the various types of taxes.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 week ago
That’s an interesting linguistic point - so tax in your language would use “less/more” being uncountable.
Technically, in English, taxes should be fewer/greater (being a countable dollar thing), but we often say “less”. Prescription vs description in action!
akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
That’s right! We say “pay more/less tax” and “have you declared the tax?”, for instance. Although, I am not speaking from a standardized or school grammar perspective. This is just how I - as a native speaker - would use our equivalent of the word “tax”. This brings me back HARD. To times when I used to join various panel discussions to fiercly defend the/my stance on “correct language” - my vague stance being that the ruling classes need to let the actual spoken word and its usage to be reflected back into the academic discourse. End of off topic discussion.
HubertManne@piefed.social 6 days ago
yes because they are refering to the particular taxes they owe that is specific to them and their income and decutables and such. when someone mentions sales taxes they don’t say my taxes. they only say it for ones where its different for the individual and situation like income and property.
skozzii@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
The origin of taxes is back in roman society, and the rich would pay all the taxes as a flex, a sign of strength and goodwill. Then taxes got shifted to society as a whole,and now they are being shifted to the poor only.
Crazy how it went from only the elites paying taxes, to now just the poors.
morphballganon@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Do you wear “your” shoes or “the” shoes?
TheMuffinMan@piefed.world 1 week ago
No idea; I’ve personally never phrased it like that. I just say that I pay (income/council/whatever) tax.
Feels like an Americanism to me.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Generally “my taxes” refers to income tax, which is figured out individually, so they are literally paying their taxes. It’s also a linguistic quirk, like saying “my cold got better”.
RBWells@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Income taxes - I do “the taxes” at year end not “my taxes” because we file as married. But when I was single I did “my taxes”
Sales tax, never. That’s just “the sales tax”
Property tax, also I say “the property tax”
I do use “my taxes” or “our taxes” (the collective group of taxpayers) when complaining, like “why are my taxes used to blow up little kids and siphoned into the pockets of people who don’t need the money?” Because it’s money we earned and being used in ways most of us would strongly object to.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I say “my property taxes” because it’s what I individually pay on my individual house.
Diddlydee@feddit.uk 1 week ago
[deleted]Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 week ago
Yet another person assuming this perspective.
That may be the case for some people - no one I know thinks that way.
PonyOfWar@pawb.social 1 week ago
You only pay the taxes that apply to you. You don’t pay all the taxes.