Voluntary Taxes
SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: Politics Are Not A Safe Alternative To Cigarettes.
I see a lot of people talking about politics, so here is my political view:
Taxes should be voluntary.
For example, if I buy a lottery ticket, that is my choice. If I’m broke, I can choose not to buy one this week. That is a voluntary type of tax. (In some states, this kind of income is used to fund education)
A yacht tax could be considered voluntary since most people manage the daily commute without one. And if you did buy one, you can probably afford the extra tax. So it is voluntary from that point of view. You had a choice.
Cobras for pets: I would like to see a big tax on that, but that’s because I don’t love snakes as pets. I feel the same about alligators, so I’m not just anti-cobra. If they don’t want to pay the really really huge cobra tax, then just don’t own one.
This is a bad example, of how this type of taxation could be abused. If people start taxing things just because they don’t like them… that’s anti-freedom. But if it was introduced as an anti-cobra law, I might be okay with it anyway, despite its anti-freedom message.
Many taxes that exist today, could theoretically be turned into voluntary taxes.
Property Tax: Property tax is often used to fund education, and sometimes considered unfair since many of us do not have children, but still have to pay this tax. We could change that tax to only apply to those homeowners with children, because that would be more fair. If you choose not to have children, then you could avoid the tax.
Or you could make a different change to make it voluntary. You could make houses less than 50K property tax-free. Make houses 100000K have some tax. And make really huge houses require more tax. That way, if you don’t have much money, and have a small house, then you won’t pay tax. But if you have money and choose to buy a huge house, then you will pay more tax. This makes the tax automatically apply more to those who can afford it. Even if you were very rich, you could still choose not to pay this tax - just buy a smaller house. Or rent.
A third way to transform property tax to a voluntary tax, is to make the property tax reflect how close you are to a school, so that parents who desire to live close will pay more. They are essentially paying for the convenience of living close to a school. It would also be giving tax incentives for non-parents to move away from schools, leaving housing for parents. How crazy is that idea?
Jewelry: If you buy an expensive piece of jewelry, maybe you should pay sales tax. You can afford it, and you can choose not to buy it, if you want to skip the tax. Maybe engagement rings get an exemption. That’s just a detail. The point is that jewelry is not a necessity, and you could avoid the tax by not buying this luxury.
Gasoline: if you buy <10 gallons of tax then you pay no gas tax. If you buy more than that, then you pay the full tax. This gives poor people (and you) a choice of whether to pay for the convenience of filling up the tank. You can choose not to, just by filling up only 9 gallons at a time.
Sales tax: No tax on food. No tax on water or air. But for wine, steak, and luxury, non-essential food, then you pay the normal sales tax. You might not like this but you did have a choice in the matter.
Cars: Maybe there is only a tax on gasoline-powered cars? This does give you a choice to buy a hybrid or electric or hydrogen car (someday), and not pay tax. So the government could still use taxes to encourage consumer behaviours they approve of. So no change there. I still believe this is a superior method over the outright banning of gasoline cars, as some have suggested.
Home extras: Yes, you have to pay property tax if you have an in-ground pool, a tennis court, a six-car garage, a nuclear reactor, a missile defense system, or a helicopter pad.
Intoxicants: No tax on beer, but yes tax on wines over $50 per bottle. Or maybe just tax all alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, THC, etc. Intoxicants aren’t a basic need like food, but many people will choose to buy these, and thereby choose to pay this tax.
Guns: Maybe you don’t tax a cheap gun, but a $5000 machine gun? or a $100000 collectible? I know this one is controversial.
Anyway, you get the idea. Those who are broke can slide by without paying very much tax, by avoiding luxuries and convenience. But if they want beer and cigarettes, they will pay taxes. Those who can afford the luxuries will pay tax, but they can also choose not to in many cases. Just don’t buy certain things. Like cobras.
Okay, you caught me. This is a joke, but what do you think? Is it really possible to make taxes voluntary, or is this just a dream? I know that some of these ideas are weird, but I love the idea that taxes could be voluntary.