VxPoD (231) : A VOLUNTARY TAX TO FUND NATIONAL PROJECTS?

Would you consider paying a little more tax in order to help fund a worthwhile national project?

While the public are often enticed by tax cuts and benefit packages, we don't often hear about plans to encourage us to pay more tax.

This is what Bryden Spurling, an adviser to Australia’s chief scientist discusses as a way to captivate the public and help them feel a sense of ownership of grand plans and creative big ideas.

Spurling identifies a significant problem in politics in that policy and planning are often based on short term projects, to fit with the electoral term of office. What are also needed are grand plans; projects that can boost productivity and truly involve the public, as he explains:

"In all my time working on public policy, I've seen grand ambitions capture the imagination and excitement every time - e.g. science, big infrastructure, exploring frontiers, or creative Australian leadership on the world stage. The key to bringing this into the open in a way that might stick is to give the public a sense of ownership.

Imagine this: each year, one national project is chosen. It could be for almost anything - a piece of research infrastructure, a program to boost advanced manufacturing, or a challenge to cure melanoma cancer. It just has to be big, ambitious, and about putting the country in an inspiring new direction.

The project is announced and advertised and, come tax time, there's an option for you to voluntarily allocate an extra percentage of tax to it. Simple, cheap to administer, and a positive reform in gloomy times. And what it would do that other government initiatives haven't is connect the taxpayer directly with the project.

A scheme like this could be a small shot in the arm for productivity. Notwithstanding that blue-sky endeavours can deliver very real economic opportunities, it stands to reason that a society that is fired up by big challenges is likely to be more naturally entrepreneurial.

But more than that, these grand ambitions speak to something deep in our psyche: one half wonder, the other a desire to feel part of something bigger than our day-to-day lives. It may not be as tangible as a tax cut. But I suspect for many people, it is no less valuable.

And in that, the value in a voluntary levy would go beyond the funding it may or may not attract. It would change the conversation between government, the public, and the media in between, and make Australia a world leader in participatory democracy.

Because in its own small way, it would give us all a say in what sort of country we want Australia to be. Do we want to be about the here and now? Or do we want to do interesting things together?"

Does Spurling's idea have merit? If we could collectively decide on a project could this be a way to unite and empower a nation? Would you be open to contributing an additional percentage of tax to feel part of something bigger?

Image: www.nextcity.org