"The best things in life are free, but sooner or…

“The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them” is a jocular one-line saying about taxes that has been printed on many images. “If the best things in life are free, it’s because we haven’t figured out a way to tax them” was printed in a 1972 newspaper. “The good news is that the best things in life are free. The bad news is that the government is trying to figure out a way to tax them too” was printed in a 1986 newspaper.

“The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them” was posted on the newsgroup rec.humor on April 5, 1996.

17 November 1972, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), “Country Parson” comic strip, pg. A31, col. 5:
“If the best things in life are free, it’s because we haven’t figured out a way to tax them.”

31 March 1986, Gaffney (SC)

, “Would You Believe?” by Vic Smith (BF Goodrich), pg. 11, col. 6 ad:
The good news is that the best things in life are free. The bad news is that the government is trying to figure out a way to tax them too.

Google Groups: rec.humor
ODDS & ENDS
Nancy Carson
4/5/96
(...)
The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them.

Google Groups: rec.humor
TAX
Darren Chng
5/18/96
(...)
The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them.

Google Books
The Coming Generational Storm:
What You Need to Know about America’s Future
By Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press
2005
Pg. 173:
The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them. — Anonymous

Twitter
Ray_Perez‏
@taxplanning
The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them.
6:54 AM - 5 Nov 2008

Twitter
Aimee Lara Myers‏
@AimeeLaraMyers
The best things in life are free but eventually the government will find a way to tax them #taxseason
5:48 PM - 28 Feb 2017

Twitter
Kevin Hayes‏
@taxdoc4u
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE…BUT SOONER THEN LATER THE IRS WILL FIND A WAY TO TAX THEM. #CALLTHETAXDOCTOR #323 292 5407.
7:01 PM - 17 Mar 2017