“TAXES are the price we pay for civilisation,” said the great US supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

This is a fine-minded statement but the truth is that no one likes handing over money to the government or local authority even it helps to pay for better roads, hospitals, schools and the salaries of public servants.

It is understood that one of the main reasons why Donald Trump won last week’s presidential election was his bold pledge to slash taxes for rich and poor, big businesses and small traders. If what the president-elect said was true then the average American household can look forward to saving about $1,600 a year, while the wealthiest one per cent could save more than $200,000.

Few things please voters more than the prospect of handing over less of their hard-earned cash to the state, and the opposite applies too.

The proposed introduction of the poll tax, for example, sparked riots on the streets that played a part in the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.

There may be ways around the system for people who can afford to employ a creative accountant or for multinationals with access to offshore havens, but for most of us taxes are, as the saying goes, one of life’s horrible inevitabilities.

Today’s naming and shaming of some local councillors who were tardy with their council tax payments backs up that notion. The list of excuses put forward to explain why reminders and court summons were issued before councillors settled outstanding bills read a bit like the old “I’m sure the cheque is in post” line, i.e. not very convincing.

We accept that there can also be genuine reasons why people are unable to pay on time but elected officials know that they are subject to close scrutiny and we expect them to lead by example.