First, why should citizens pay taxes? Under the market economy, taxpayers pay taxes in order to obtain public goods. There are two social contracts involved here: first, the government undertakes the function of providing public goods on behalf of the public, and the existence and operation of the government is based on the social contract, which is an abstract contract that produces the government; Second, the government's function of obtaining tax revenue is based on its contract with society, which is a concrete contract to generate tax revenue. Individual members of society transfer part of their income to the government in the form of taxes, so that it can provide public products and serve its own interests. Just like paying the price of personal products, there is also an exchange relationship between monetary payment and interest acquisition. The tax price theory clearly explains why people have to pay taxes: people are paying taxes for themselves, not for the government.
Second, how does the government collect taxes? Although the payment of tax is related to personal interests and public goods have common consumption, people still have strong motives and desires to evade taxes, avoid taxes, evade taxes and refuse to pay taxes, which makes it necessary for the government to use its power to levy taxes. Under the condition of market economy, the government is an independent subject with its own relatively independent interests, will and activity ability. Once the government is not restricted by external forces, it will inevitably lead to the vicious expansion of the government's desire for interests and power, and the tax revenue as an important source of government revenue will inevitably get out of control and flood. Therefore, it is not enough for individuals to pay taxes, but also the normalization of government collection activities. This involves a social contract, that is, how to make people pay taxes voluntarily in the government's compulsory taxation. In this game, people conclude contracts to form laws, even the laws of the world to regulate government behavior. Therefore, the establishment of tax law is the determination of tax price, the signing of a contract that the public is willing to pay the price of public goods, and the recognition and grant of government tax rights. It can be considered that tax payment is fundamentally a voluntary act, and government taxation must be carried out according to law.
Third, how to achieve the purpose of taxation? The purpose of taxpayers paying taxes is to obtain public goods provided by the government, and the tax "price" reflects the fundamental interests of taxpayers as buyers. Therefore, as a provider of public goods, the government's "payment" behavior, including how to arrange the use of the obtained tax, what kind of public services should be provided, or the specific arrangement of government expenditure, including the total scale, category and amount of expenditure, as well as the quantity, quality and content of various public services generated therefrom, also belongs to taxpayers as price payers, that is, the payer of tax price also has "consumer sovereignty". At this point, the tax social contract was completely concluded. Subject, price and equivalent all have accurate positions in legal contracts. The theory of tax price is more convincing and practical than the view that tax behavior is regarded as a compulsory and unpaid "power relationship" in isolation, that is, the public is allowed to pay taxes voluntarily and the government is allowed to collect and use taxes according to law.