Taxes are often used as either incentives or disincentives for certain behaviors. Examples of incentives are the Child and Dependent Care Credit and EV Tax Credits. An example of a disincentive is a Mansion Tax.

They are. Look at the Netherlands, they want to implement taxes on unrealized gains.

say that to trump

When a significant share of the taxes you pay are mishandled or lost to fraud, yes it is a punishment.

That's been happening for a long time in the US. Staggering military industrial complex. Tens of billions lost in COVID relief. Billions lost in Minnesota due to unchecked privatized social welfare fraud (which has been known about for a decade).

Some mistakes will happen. What we have is unacceptable. If the government can't handle the money responsibly, it has no business collecting the money.