"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."He seemed to think that this was justification for a large welfare state funded by high taxes on the wealthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. It turns out that God, as portrayed in scripture, is quite opposed to large government. Every large government in scripture is wicked, and high taxes are always associated with tyranny or other unrighteous rule. God prefers to preserve individual liberty as much as possible, and require individuals to care for the poor without government intervention.
There are places in scripture where righteous people live with "all things in common." The exact workings of these systems are not well explained (except perhaps in the Doctrine and Covenants), but it's pretty clear that there is no coercion. Those who have give willingly to those who have not. The rich abase themselves by giving freely to the poor, and thus there are truly "no poor among them." There is no government involvement, no imprisonment or even punishment for not participating (except God's punishment for sin).
Here are a few representative examples of how the scriptures view taxation:
Let's start with the Old Testament. The word "tax" as we use it today does not appear in the Old Testament, because there is no such word in ancient Hebrew. The words most commonly used are "levy" and "tribute." King Solomon and his son Rehoboam are the rulers most associated with heavy taxes, requiring both money and forced labor. These taxes were levied for ostensibly righteous purposes: building the temple, public works, the care of the poor. However, they were also the immediate cause of the rebellion which split the Kingdom of Israel from the Kingdom of Judah. Ahijah the prophet prophesied the division of the kingdom as God's punishment for the wickedness of Solomon.
But wait, you say, what of tithing and offerings? Doesn't God require a "tax" of those who worship him? First, it's a bit of a stretch to claim that 10% is a "heavy" tax. Second, as far as I can tell, tithes and offerings had nothing to do with government. Those funds were for the maintenance of religion (the upkeep of the temple, the sustenance of the priests, etc). Admittedly at times there was a blurring of the line between Church and State, but it appears that for the most part tithes and offerings were voluntary (in the sense that you only had to pay them if you made use of religious facilities).
There isn't much in the New Testament about governments. It simply doesn't cover enough history, and Jesus and the Apostles have too many doctrinal issues to worry about to say much on non-spiritual matters. They are strongly in favor of obeying the law of the land, but that's about all they say. There's no doubt the Jews viewed Roman rule (and taxes) quite negatively, though.
The Book of Mormon comes down even harder against heavy taxation. Righteous leaders, like King Benjamin, labor "with [their] own hands ... that [the people] should not be laden with taxes." Wicked rulers, like the Lamanites, King Noah, and Riplakish, impose heavy taxes to "build many spacious buildings" and support themselves "in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms."
The Doctrine and Covenants has nothing to say that I could find on taxation or government welfare, though it does contain perhaps the most impressive treatise on the role of government and religion that I have ever read. In the spirit of quoting modern revelation I point instead to the LDS Church's instruction on how its welfare program is to be administered, which opens with this quote from the First Presidency:
"Our primary purpose was to set up … a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership" (emphasis mine)One of the primary purposes of the LDS Church's welfare system is to supplant government welfare. Not supplement, supplant. Why the dole is evil is an entire discussion unto itself, but suffice to say that simply subsidizing poverty leads inevitably to more and greater poverty, not to a society with "no poor among them."
So, what is the take-away? Only wicked governments impose heavy taxes (which in at least one case is as little as 20%). Righteous leaders seek to reduce taxes, while exhorting the people to give charitably to the poor and the needy. (I could talk at length about how charitable donations are inversely proportional to taxation, and how private charities do far more good than government welfare programs with the same dollars, but this isn't the place for that.)
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