Taxes used for ensuring murderers aren't free on the street is a lot different than taxes used to put people in prison for pot.
This is especially true since we are at a point where most people are taxed without representation, because their vote buys so little in comparison to lobbying or other factors (such as us having first past the poll system of election in the US).
I pay against my will because the government holds a monopoly on violence. They will lock me up for not paying.
A society built on top of the threat of violence is not one I endorse.
Isn't that the only way governments' have come and gone on this planet?
Well of course if people seriously think locking up your tax chattel so they can not be productive at all (assuming they were locked up on tax evasion, yet still contributing goods/services to someone/thing else) is a effective allocation of resources, then there is no way to argue against that.
But while naughty, the alternatives to these governments are private individuals / militias / warlords doing far worse against your values and morals.
I can pay taxes without grousing about it too much, so long as they're just taking my money. It's when they start taking my time that I start to get bitchy about it.
If it takes me 20 times longer to calculate the taxes associated with doing something than it actually took for me to do the thing, then that tax is simply not reasonable, no matter how much or how little it costs in dollars.
The worst part of the entire US tax system is the requirement to self-report on taxable events. If the IRS really wants to dig down in such detail to find out what I owe them every time I move money from my left pocket to my right, they can damned well send me a pair of tax-compliant pants. Write wallet software for US users that makes the tax compliance automatic and seamless, don't bother trying to collect taxes that can't be fairly enforced solely through self-reporting, or FOAD.
It's like they think we exist only to do their paperwork and write them checks. Do they even realize how much more I'd be willing to pay in taxes if I didn't have to do an annual ritual humiliation of proving to them through the submission of forms and reports that I am not trying to cheat? If they just sent me a freaking bill, so long as it explained why my regular payroll withholding wasn't enough, and the amount seemed plausibly close to correct, I'd probably just pay it. There is no particular need for me to fill out 12 pages of forms, so that I can figure out what I think I should owe, based on my own understanding of the tax code. Likewise, if I were due a refund, they could just send out a check.
It's not just based on violence. It's also based on institutional bureaucratic displays of social dominance.
Surely you also mind being the member of a civilized society.
I feel like I have been paying for them since I got my first job at 14. I'll probably still be paying for them when I am 80.