I was having a discussion with some co-workers/friends over lunch and the subject of taxes came up (we're accountants, so yeah). Anyway, a bunch of us started talking about a participatory tax system and the potential pros and cons of such a system.
So the general idea is this:
1. Taxes are still calculated based upon the criteria used today
2. At the end of each year your total tax paid (not just the owed amount remaining, but paid and owed together) for the year would be calculated and a gross amount shown, same as it is now.
3. Whatever your total tax figure, let's use $10,000 for example, would then be split.
4. 50% ($5,000) goes to the government for them to do what they wish (like they do with the full 100% now)
5. 50% would be segregated for you, the payee, to allocate out to whatever areas you think it would be best spent. So for example, you could put 10% in education, 15% in the environment, 25% on defense, etc. There would be a separate form and instruction booklet outlining all of the possible areas it could be placed, so you couldn't just put it in a random box and say "teh faster internetz!1!!111!". You could also leave some or all of your portion to the government's discretion.
There would obviously be a lot of issues around accountability and auditing, plus the potential for programs to be underfunded if people did not allocate enough to certain areas, but at the same time, maybe it would force the government to be a little more responsible with the money they have.
Would you, as a taxpayer, like a system such as this? Or do you think the government should be the ones in charge of the entire amount? Maybe a third party should manage some of it?
Please feel free to comment, suggest improvements, or deride anything I posted here. We did have a couple of drinks at lunch, so I could be missing something very important here. 😀
Cheers,
KT
So the general idea is this:
1. Taxes are still calculated based upon the criteria used today
2. At the end of each year your total tax paid (not just the owed amount remaining, but paid and owed together) for the year would be calculated and a gross amount shown, same as it is now.
3. Whatever your total tax figure, let's use $10,000 for example, would then be split.
4. 50% ($5,000) goes to the government for them to do what they wish (like they do with the full 100% now)
5. 50% would be segregated for you, the payee, to allocate out to whatever areas you think it would be best spent. So for example, you could put 10% in education, 15% in the environment, 25% on defense, etc. There would be a separate form and instruction booklet outlining all of the possible areas it could be placed, so you couldn't just put it in a random box and say "teh faster internetz!1!!111!". You could also leave some or all of your portion to the government's discretion.
There would obviously be a lot of issues around accountability and auditing, plus the potential for programs to be underfunded if people did not allocate enough to certain areas, but at the same time, maybe it would force the government to be a little more responsible with the money they have.
Would you, as a taxpayer, like a system such as this? Or do you think the government should be the ones in charge of the entire amount? Maybe a third party should manage some of it?
Please feel free to comment, suggest improvements, or deride anything I posted here. We did have a couple of drinks at lunch, so I could be missing something very important here. 😀
Cheers,
KT
