Taxes exist to fund the government and I support having a government and public programs.

They don't though, that's what I'm saying. Take a look at https://www.usdebtclock.org- the US government is funded by debt, not taxes. If the government accumulates so much debt that it becomes a mathematical impossibility for tax revenue to ever pay it down then what is the actual purpose of paying those taxes? The purpose is to remove privately held currency from circulation, which is necessary if you want to print trillions of newly-created dollars without instantly triggering hyperinflation. If that were not the case, they could stop collecting taxes altogether and operate exactly the same as before- the only difference being the national debt rising at a faster rate. In the US at least, taxes exist solely as a release valve to enable shockingly irresponsible monetary policy

If people stopped paying taxes things would not go smoothly for long

That only holds up if there is only a single tax recipient that is controlled by the same entity as the entity that controls the money printing. That is almost never the case, as there are local taxes, rebates, fines, deductions and exemptions. In fact, even the central and local governments pay each other.