Self Allocation of Tax

andymann

What do people think of the idea that one could have the option to allocate a certain portion (e.g. 5%) of the tax that they pay to a certain government department, or proposed scheme (e.g. a scheme similar to the Cycle to Work Scheme, or an environmental scheme (to fund say the planting of deciduous trees on public land), or the building/upgrade of a road) on a rolling basis, which they choose every couple of years? It could get people more engaged in the process of the spending of their hard earned tax.

Dj Tom

You’re dead right there Andy du Frame.

riffmongous

You'd just end up with even more concentration of services and infrastructure in the rich districts and the rest of the country would become a wasteland

Dj Tom

riffmongous wrote: »

You'd just end up with even more concentration of services and infrastructure in the rich districts and the rest of the country would become a wasteland

A serious answer like that at this hour of the night is outrageous.

andymann

riffmongous wrote: »

You'd just end up with even more concentration of services and infrastructure in the rich districts and the rest of the country would become a wasteland

One could put a limit on the allowable sum total of contributions to the benefiting cause, or have a sliding scale of how much is allowed (i.e. for the wealthiest districts, a contribution to a scheme which is exclusively focused on a cause affecting only that district will allow 1%, a percentage which increases with how badly off a district is, rising to a max of 5%). This could encourage people to allocate away from their own area as more money is decided by themselves in the latter case.

riffmongous

Dj Tom wrote: »

A serious answer like that at this hour of the night is outrageous.

Hector Bellend

Dj Tom wrote: »

You’re dead right there Andy du Frame.

Your Face

andymann wrote: »

What do people think of the idea that one could have the option to allocate a certain portion (e.g. 5%) of the tax that they pay to a certain government department, or proposed scheme (e.g. a scheme similar to the Cycle to Work Scheme, or an environmental scheme (to fund say the planting of deciduous trees on public land), or the building/upgrade of a road) on a rolling basis, which they choose every couple of years? It could get people more engaged in the process of the spending of their hard earned tax.

Sound. Set it up.

Capt'n Midnight

riffmongous wrote: »

You'd just end up with even more concentration of services and infrastructure in the rich districts and the rest of the country would become a wasteland

Rural services and infrastructure would just stop.

A back road with one house every 500 meters vs. an urban link road with housing estates one after another ?


Public services cost a lot more to provide when houses are further apart, and yet rural house pay a lot lower development levies.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/septic-tank-hype-veils-public-subsidy-to-rural-dwellers-1.470348


Remember the "local" property tax ?
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/dubliners-get-up-to-50-times-less-funding-than-rural-dwellers-1.1730130

Dublin city has been allocated €5.06 per person through the Local Government Fund for this year, compared to €260.47 per person in Leitrim, according to figures compiled by the city council’s finance department.

The disparity is replicated nationally, with urban areas receiving far less funding than rural councils, but Dublin local authorities receiving least. The fund is the main source of money allocated by the Government to local authorities and is largely made up of Local Property Tax (LPT) payments from householders.

rgodard80a

andymann wrote: »

What do people think of the idea that one could have the option to allocate a certain portion (e.g. 5%) of the tax that they pay to a certain government department

For local issues ?

I believe that's called the property tax now...