The document proposes a government initiative called "MyTax" that would allow taxpayers to choose where 20% of their taxes are allocated. Under MyTax, taxpayers could log onto a website and nominate up to 4 categories like education, healthcare, infrastructure to receive a portion of their taxes. Taxpayers would then receive a thank you letter showing how their taxes may have been spent in their chosen categories, helping them feel more connected to the impact of their tax dollars. The goal of MyTax is to help taxpayers see tax payment as a prosocial act rather than a punishment and increase civic engagement with government spending.

1. TAX
We all have to pay taxes. Yet very few of us find paying
taxes fun or particularly rewarding. Paying tax is a doleful passive
process. As comedian Chris Rock argues
in his album, Bigger & Blacker,
“You don’t pay tax,
they take taxes”
There is no choice when it comes to paying tax and most people
see it as a punishment as opposed to an act of social generosity.

2. The Problem
Tax although compulsory, is taken with little explanation of its use
or even a small thanks. In Australia alone, individual tax income for
2012 equaled
$163,050 billion
contributing 43% of the governments revenue, the largest revenue
raiser of all taxes.
Individuals income tax: $163,050,000,000
Company and resource rent taxes: $82,442,000,000
Sales taxes: $51,716,000,000
Non-tax revenue: $21,445,000,000

3. Given that taxes are justified pro-social
spending, how can we connect people with
the difference that their tax dollars make?
Can we structure taxes in such a way that
people get the same happiness benefits as
other pro-social spending?

4. My Tax
Introducing My Tax, a government initiative, which allows you to
choose where 20% of your tax goes.
mytax.com.au
10% 10%
The Arts Environment Infastructure/ Defense
Transport
At the beginning each financial year, tax payers ought to log onto
mytax.com.au and can nominate where 20% of their tax goes. In
Australia this means that the public chooses where
$32,610 billion
tax dollars are spent!

5. My Tax
Individuals can then nominate up to 4
categories of where their tax dollar goes. The categories
that individuals can choose from are:
Education
Healthcare
Welfare Services
Infastructure/
Environment Transport
The Arts
Defense
Once an individual has nominated which category they would like
their money to go to, they receive either via email or a letter in the mail,
a thank you letter for their contribution. This document would also give
them an example of how their nominated tax dollar has been spent.

6. My Tax
So, how does MyTax work? Dear Naomi,
Thank You for your contribution
of $1546. It may have contributed
towards education in the following
Naomi is a working mum with 2 kids and ways
decides to allocate all 20% of her tax to
-­150 books for the average public school
education. library
Naomi pays $7,732 in income tax, which
means $1546 goes into education.
-­upgraded 20 computers in an average
public school lab
Naomi -­bought the necessary equipment for
one public school to start their own vegie patch,
giving children the experience of growing their
own vegies and how they can help the environment.
Naomi gets a thank you letter
acknowledging how her tax dollar may
have contributed towards education. Yours Sincerely
Education Department

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8. My Tax
In our age of taxation, we forget that good
things are being done with our tax money
and MyTax not only reminds us of that, but
also thanks us for our contribution.
MyTax reconnects us, tax payers, to why
we’re paying tax. It is a democracy, where
civic involvement is reattached to the act of
paying tax instead of an authoritarian
demand for money, which it is now.