Tax Day is the national day where individuals must return their federal and state income taxes to the federal government; on Friday, students and faculty gave their perspective on taxation in the U.S. before Tax Day.

Jeffrey Ashley, head of the department of political science, said taxes are important because things are not free.

“Tuition for Eastern students would be a lot higher if we did not pay taxes, for example,” Ashley said.

Eastern students pay subsidized tuition because of taxes, he said.

Ashley said taxes help pay for many functions of the government that citizens use and need.

“Taxes help pay for roads, parks, environment protection and health care for people that need it,” Ashley said.

When a student turns on the faucet and they get clean water or when a student reads a nutritional label, it is all because of taxes, Ashley said.

“Everyone likes to keep their money, though items we take for granted are paid for from taxes,” Ashley said.

Erica Spencer, a senior art major, said she does not mind paying taxes because they force people to help the government.

“I think stuff would not get paid for if we did not have taxes,” Spencer said.

Gerald Presley, a senior biology major, said taxes are important overall, but he thinks a lot more items, such as some military spending, are unnecessary. He said currently the military spending takes about half of the current federal budget.

“We need military spending, but we could reduce our military presence in Japan and Germany,” Presley said.

Bailey Fouliard, a freshman family and consumer sciences major, said she does not mind paying for some taxes, but she does not believe everything should be taxed.

The government should use tax money for the most important necessities and not over tax individuals because the economy is hurting, Fouliard said.

Minh Bui, an international student from Vietnam who graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in finance, compared the taxation in the U.S. and Vietnam.

“We don’t have to pay many taxes in Vietnam,” Bui said.

Bui said she could see evidence of the benefits of U.S. taxation because the facilities in America are a lot nicer than the ones in Vietnam.

“Taxes are necessary,” Bui said.

She said she participated in taxation workshops, offered by the International Student Scholars, which helped her know how to fill out her tax forms in the U.S.

The taxation workshops offered in March helped answer questions dealing with taxes that international students might have, said Bria Phillips, a graduate assistant.

“They basically do workshops on how to file taxes, because international students might not know how,” Phillips said.

Elizabeth Edwards can be reached at 581-7942 or eaedwards@eiu.edu.