"Given" is such a calm word and probably an inappropriate one for the context.

April 15 is our annual occasion of trying to convince ourselves that paying taxes is a privilege of citizenship.

We need to remind ourselves that we share in benefits that justify the sum of "payments made" and "amount you owe."

Cynicism totally aside, it is good to be American. And a treasured aspect of our freedom is the right to grouse about paying taxes.

It would feel a bit better to send in the 1040 if we had the feeling the tax burden were shared fairly. According to financial writer Gary Weiss, 61 percent of American corporations paid no corporate income taxes between 1996 and 2000. The share of the tax burden has fallen for U.S. companies over the years. Of the total federal tax revenue in 1940, corporations paid 50 percent. Last year, they paid 14.4 percent.

Granted, corporate tax rates themselves are high, as compared with other developed countries.

But the tax laws tend to be kind to corporations.

It is appropriate that there is legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to close loopholes in corporation taxes. But that's been promised so often. It's not likely there will be much bipartisanship between now and the November election.

The performance of the economy is the crucial matter in determining total tax revenue. It looks worrisome. Even so, it's hard to imagine anyone championing any new tax during an election year.

Ronald Reagan had a paradoxical relationship with government and the U.S. economy. During one of his election years he had no trouble with pressuring the Federal Reserve to be more active in stimulating the economy. But Reagan, the foe of taxes and the friend of free enterprise, seemed to regard government as the problem, not any solution. He told a conference on small business, "The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

It almost gives a taxpayer pause about being up and moving today - that out there is a tax looking for a moving target. But the alternative is not attractive. Let's move on. Taxes and death are not happy topics.

If you were owed a refund by state or federal governments or both, here's a word of advice: Don't say a word about it today. Someone might hear it and snap.