It's been a Tax Talk tradition to explore the Bible and its take on taxes on Easter Sunday. Here is the 2023 message.

While some people think taxes are boring, the Bible is a “Who's Who" of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to tax compliance.

The Old Testament tells the tale of Joseph, who dramatically ascends from slave and prisoner to a trusted advisor of the Egyptian Pharaoh. This position allows Joseph to forgive his siblings who tried to write him off as a business expense by selling him to passing traders (Genesis 41:1-44; 45:3-8).

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In the New Testament, Jesus often sought out tax professionals, and even personally paid taxes as depicted in Matthew 17:24-27: "When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the … tax came to Peter and asked, ' Does your teacher pay the … tax?'  'Of course,' Peter answered." Scripture continues with Jesus giving instructions to Peter "… go to the lake and drop in a line; pull up the first fish you hook and, in its mouth, you will find a coin worth enough for my … tax and yours; take it and pay them our taxes."

In an oft-quoted verse, Jesus affirms it is possible to meet tax obligations and serve God: “… give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's" (Mark 12:14-17).

Jesus also counters a prevailing negative perception about tax collectors who handled unclean foreign currency (with pagan symbols), worked for far-away governments and evidently charged more than was fair in order to fatten their money pouches. The Savior did not see tax professionals as beyond redemption. When Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, promised to give half his possessions to the poor and to repay what he overcharged fourfold, Jesus declares that salvation has come to this house (Luke 19:1-10).

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In visit to a local tax office, Jesus personally calls a tax collector named Matthew to follow him. When questioned about why he shared meals with tax collectors, Jesus aligned himself with another profession (physicians) that handled unclean things by declaring, "People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick" (Matthew 9:9-13). It is fascinating that Luke (a doctor) and Matthew (a tax collector) were members of these sometimes-maligned professions inspired and may have made substantial contributions to the Bible, writing two of the four Gospels.

St. Paul checks in with some positive strokes about taxes and its collectors in Romans 13:6-7: "This is also the reason that you pay taxes, because the authorities are working for God when they fulfill their duties. Pay, then, what you owe them; pay … your … taxes and show respect and honor for them all."

As Christians, we believe Jesus canceled the debt caused by our sins by dying on the Cross. Past Tax Talk columns described monetary debt cancellation as a taxable event. The death and Resurrection of Jesus is remarkable, redemptive and completely free to us with only one condition: We follow His path along life's way.

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Ken & Klee's Tax Notebook — With the April 18 filing deadline looming, the Internal Revenue Service recently reminded taxpayers how to avoid common errors that may delay possible refunds. These actions include filing electronically; double-checking names, birth dates, bank account and routing numbers on the return; and answering the digital asset question.

According to a New York Times article last week, the Internal Revenue Service projects it will receive requests for extensions from more than 20 million people on or before April 18. The piece also indicates, per the IRS, on average it takes 13 hours to fill out income tax forms.

We thank Richard Klee, a biblical studies faculty member at Valparaiso University, for his substantial contribution to this column.

Rick Klee served as the tax director at the University of Notre Dame from 1998 through August 2019. A retired CPA, Klee is a graduate of Notre Dame. You can contact him at rklee@nd.edu.

Ken Milani is a professor of accountancy at Notre Dame where he served as the faculty coordinator of the Notre Dame Tax Assistance Program. Contact him at milani.1@nd.edu.

E-mail questions to either.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: The Bible's take on taxes in the Old and New testaments