Ideas for user-pay taxation?

[Machjo]

Let's brainstorm ways to make taxes more user-pay in this thread. Some ideas that I have:

A resource tax. The gas tax could go towards road construction. Taxes on the rubber and other materials to make shoes go towards sidewalks. Taxes on metal to make bicycles go towards bicycle lanes.

A language tax. The Commonwealth of Nations establishes an English-language passport. The OIF establishes a French-language passport, and the WEF establishes an Esperanto Passport. To obtain any of these passports, you must be under 15, 70 or over, or medically unable to learn a second language. Anyone entering Canada on any passport other than a Canadian passport or one of the three language passports above would be subjected to a language tax to cover Cabada's government translation and interpretation costs.

A broadcasting tax. TV cable consumers would pay this tax to fund public broadcasting. Or alternatively, it's just built into the resource tax whereby the taxes collected on the raw materials used to build television sets would fund public media.

Raise tobacco and alcohol taxes and introduce a cholesterol tax to fund health care.

I'm sure you could come up with a whole list of other options to help reduce our income taxes and so give us more choice in whether or not to pay taxes.

 

[Mowich]

A resource tax. The gas tax could go towards road construction. Taxes on the rubber and other materials to make shoes go towards sidewalks. Taxes on metal to make bicycles go towards bicycle lanes.

I believe a portion of what we currently pay at the pump is being used for the improvement of roads etc.

I didn't know that shoes were such a big industry in Canada. As for the tax on metal for bikes. I really don't know how you would go about deciding the portion of metals produced that would go towards the manufacture of bicycles as opposed to cars, etc.

A language tax. The Commonwealth of Nations establishes an English-language passport. The OIF establishes a French-language passport, and the WEF establishes an Esperanto Passport. To obtain any of these passports, you must be under 15, 70 or over, or medically unable to learn a second language. Anyone entering Canada on any passport other than a Canadian passport or one of the three language passports above would be subjected to a language tax to cover Cabada's government translation and interpretation costs.

You completely lost me on this one.

A broadcasting tax. TV cable consumers would pay this tax to fund public broadcasting. Or alternatively, it's just built into the resource tax whereby the taxes collected on the raw materials used to build television sets would fund public media.

Considering that the majority of TV sets in Canada are built outside the country, pickin's might be slim on this one.

Raise tobacco and alcohol taxes and introduce a cholesterol tax to fund health care.

The 'sin taxes' are a no brainer. Every government imposes higher penalties on T and A.

I'm sure you could come up with a whole list of other options to help reduce our income taxes and so give us more choice in whether or not to pay taxes.

I'm sure I could Machjo, but to tell you the truth, I have no complaints about the amount I pay in income tax or all the other taxes that are part of our lives.

 

[Danbones]

government operates on the spend it or lose it form of budgeting
which is a system that doesn't even work in insane asylums when the inmates play cards with their paxil pills

so throwing MORE MONEY AT THEM will get the same result as throwing more pills at a nutbarjunkie

btw
the tax cost of a typical hoser's beer and cigarettes for one month is exactly the cost of one months welfare in Ontario
which is why roughly 1 third of the homeless are substance abusers
more taxes, more homeless...ironic innit?

 

[Jinentonix]

The 'sin taxes' are a no brainer. Every government imposes higher penalties on T and A

And on tobacco and alcohol.

 

[damngrumpy]

We pay fuel tax goes to general revenue. Instead of all these taxes on the
average guy consider some alternatives. All companies making weapons
or munitions for war should pay a big environmental tax. Taxes on the
stocks bought and sold at a higher rate a 70% tax on bonuses to corporation
executives. No subsidies to corporations without a bill to ensure the firms
live up to job promises. If a company leaves Canada they should pay back
all tax exemptions and breaks and perks they got going back twenty five
years.
Developers should pay for all infrastructure in neighbourhoods including
schools and parks and power and water and you name it.

Now some say this would be unreasonable and likely they are right so it is
just as unreasonable for the average guy to pay for it all without a healthy
contribution from those who make the most.

 

[Machjo]

We pay fuel tax goes to general revenue. Instead of all these taxes on the
average guy consider some alternatives. All companies making weapons
or munitions for war should pay a big environmental tax. Taxes on the
stocks bought and sold at a higher rate a 70% tax on bonuses to corporation
executives. No subsidies to corporations without a bill to ensure the firms
live up to job promises. If a company leaves Canada they should pay back
all tax exemptions and breaks and perks they got going back twenty five
years.
Developers should pay for all infrastructure in neighbourhoods including
schools and parks and power and water and you name it.

Now some say this would be unreasonable and likely they are right so it is
just as unreasonable for the average guy to pay for it all without a healthy
contribution from those who make the most.

You says we can't have a mixture of user-pay and progressive taxation?

I just think there isn't enough user-pay taxation right now.

Unlike income tax and a general consumption tax like the GST, we have more control over user-pay taxes. For example, to avoid a resource tax, I just consume fewer resources. This could include driving less to reduce fuel consumption. To avoid a language tax, I take the necessary steps to reduce the need for translators at the airport. To avoid a sin tax, I just have to not buy cigarettes and alcohol, and to avoid a cholesterol tax, just buy less meat and eggs.

Another user-pay idea is to learn from the Hong Kong Metro. There you pay based on travel distance. You must check in and check out to determine the cost of your trip, unlike at the Montreal metro where you pay the same flat rate no matter how far you travel. This gain gives people more control over transit costs by moving closer to work.

Now one might argue that progressive income tax could be avoidable too by just earning less, and I suppose one could argue that. But if we want to interpret it that way, then we should raise the tax-free limit and charge income tax only on the wealthy. If we did that, then all taxes would be theoretically avoidable as they ought to be, though in reality it would be more a mater of just having somewhat more control over how much tax to pay.

This could mean that if a person plays his cards right, he could avoid paying much tax by just cutting the necessities out of his life since there would be no GST on food and clothing in general, he could move close to work to reduce the gas tax and pay less for public transit, etc. Something that is out of his control with income tax on lower earners and the GSM which applies to too many things.