Voluntary taxation

Voluntary taxation

Voluntary taxation is a theory that states that taxation, naturally a coercive act, should be a voluntary act instead. The idea states that instead of people being forced to pay taxes by their government they should have the option to pay taxes. In this theory people control how much they pay and where they spend it. It is a part of Objectivist politics and many Libertarian ideologies.

Example

Here is an example of how this system could function.

A state would distribue tax forms that could be filled out by recipients. The forms would have options on them for what the recipient would like to spend his or her money on. For example, there could be a section for military spending, or separate sections for defense in general and specific conflicts in particular. There would also be sections to be for elected officials (who would still be necessary to carry out the wishes of the people) and also sections for charities.

The form would be divided into more and more sections so that people could specify their decisions. In other words the entire form would be under the category of general. Then there could be a section for education and then even further for elementary school education. People could choose which sections they wanted and contribute to those sections. For example they could contribute different amounts to each section of education or to the section of education in general, allowing their elected officials to decide the best way to allocate the money.

upport

The arguments for this theory are as follows:
* It allows greater freedom.
* It performs both the function of collecting money for the government and allowing the population to decide where money should be spent. It is similar to allowing everyone to vote on government spending except that it is in a different format.
* It allows government officials to easily keep track of the wants of their voters and the nation as a whole.
* It allows people to vote directly in a sense. For example they can decide that everyone should have health care by contributing to that section.

Criticism

The arguments against this theory are as follows:
* The government would suffer because it would not receive enough money.
* No one would pay taxes and thus the nation would fall into anarchy.
* People with money would have a greater say in government then those without money.
* The forms would be difficult to create to adequately have every option that everyone would like. An option for "other" could become out of control in large nations.

ources

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0377/is_n112/ai_14466349] "The end of taxation?" by James L. Payne.
* [http://www.mises.org/rothbard/mes/chap16e.asp] "Man, Economy, & State" with "Power and Market" is a textbook with a section that describes most of the theory of Voluntary Taxation

External links

* [http://www.npri.org/op_eds/op_ed99/o_e012999.html "Voluntary" Taxation and the Consentof the Governed" article describing the coercive nature of taxation]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block28.html An article on Voluntary Taxation]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Voluntary student unionism — (VSU) is a policy, notable in Australia, under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations is voluntary. Voluntary student unionism has been implemented in Australia and at the University of Auckland …   Wikipedia

  • Taxation in the United Kingdom — This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the United Kingdom Central government HM Treasury HM Revenue and Customs …   Wikipedia

  • TAXATION — This article is arranged according to the following outline: historical aspects legal aspects the biblical period the talmudic period the post talmudic period in general yardsticks of tax assessment taxable property Place of Residence, Business,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Taxation history of the United States — The history of taxation in the United States began when it was composed of colonies ruled by the British Empire, French Empire, and Spanish Empire. After independence from Europe the United States collected poll taxes, tariffs, and excise taxes.… …   Wikipedia

  • Taxation in Germany — Taxes in Germany being a Federal Republic are levied by the federation ( Bund ), the States ( Länder ) as well as the Municipalities ( Kommunen ). Many direct and indirect taxes exist, whereof income tax and VAT are the most relevant. The German… …   Wikipedia

  • Double Taxation — A taxation principle referring to income taxes that are paid twice on the same source of earned income. Double taxation occurs because corporations are considered separate legal entities from their shareholders. As such, corporations pay taxes on …   Investment dictionary

  • Voluntaryism — is a philosophy that opposes anything that it sees as unjustifiably invasive and coercive. Voluntaryism regards government as coercive, and calls for its abolishment, but, unlike a number of other anarchist philosophies, it supports strong… …   Wikipedia

  • Anarchism and anarcho-capitalism — This article discusses similarities and differences between anarcho capitalism and other types of anarchism. Integrating Austrian economics into individualist anarchism Murray Rothbard was a student and disciple of the Austrian economist Ludwig… …   Wikipedia

  • State of Washington —     State of Washington     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► State of Washington     One of the Pacific cost states, popularly known as the Evergreen State , the sixteenth in size among the state of the Union and the twenty ninth in the order of… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Auberon Herbert — Auberon Edward William Molyneux Herbert (Highclere, June 18 1838 November 5 1906) was a writer, theorist, philosopher, and member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, son of the 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, brother of Henry Herbert, and father of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”