Utah Free Press

The Voluntary Tax

November 7th, 2008, by Richard Okelberry - With government coffers depleted and most people unable to afford tax increases under current economic pressures we might want to consider a new concept in taxation, the voluntary tax.  Each year special interests from the teachers unions to land conservation groups lobby the government and the people for more money.  While some of these projects may be a vital interest to some they certainly aren’t a necessity to most.  Still, many would argue that certain programs, like education are underfunded and in constant need of new money.  This is where a Voluntary Tax would come in.

A Voluntary Tax or “VTax,” would be a specific section of the state tax form that would allow citizens to individually pay a little extra money to the government for whichever specific program they support.  This system would serve several major purposes.  Not only would it provide addition funding from strong supporters regardless of a lack of wide public support but it would allow legislators to weigh how much actual support each program has by allowing people to vote with their pocketbooks.  If a program like education starts bringing in large sums on a volunteer basis, legislators may see this as an indicator that there is great support for the program.  Conversely if a program receives little or no donations, legislators might take it as a sign that the program should be scraped or reformed.  After all, if even the most die hard supporters of a program aren’t willing to kick in a little of their own cash to support a program, how can we expect those that have no interest in the program to do the same.

A system like this could be a revolutionary concept around the nation and ultimately may create a system wherein State governments only provides the bare essentials to various programs and the rest is funded by a form of monetary voting.   Also, instead of throwing huge dollars at issue campaigns like the school voucher issue, advocates and opponents can instead use that money as a kind of donation to favored programs to show legislators and the public the kind of support the program has.  Imagine if instead of fighting over school vouchers, each side invested their money into their own perspective programs instead of blowing it on radio and TV adds that only serve to divide communities.

Finally, a voluntary tax system would put a sock in the mouths of those who are always willing to propose tax increases for everyone else but never willing to write out the check themselves.  Ultimately, taxation and spending is about power.  This system will help take some of the power away from special interests and place it firmly in the hands of the constituents.  Also a system like this will allow those who have a little more and would like to give back to the community an easy and direct avenue for contributing.