Wild Idea - Opt In Income Tax For The Bahamas

OK, I had this wild idea the other day. I meant to write it up before now, but I am working on the RPM08 challenge with an online band.

http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,2958/Itemid,1/

So. What if we were to offer Opt In, flat rate income tax to those who would choose to pay it for their own reasons.

We could let them opt in.

We could let them choose from among a series of rates:

1%, 2%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%, 15%, 20%.

No deductions. No audits.

You tell us your income. You tell us the rate you want to pay. You pay the amount that comes to.

We give you a certificate indicating your claimed income, your tax rate, the amount you paid in taxes.

If we want, we could go further...

We could allow people who pay this optional income tax to determine where / how, their tax dollars get spent in a very direct manner. Either all of it or part of it. I need to think some more about that.

Say the government could set up categories:

Education, Police, Environment, Roads, Infrastructure. Whatever.

Then the tax payer could indicate what they want the tax to go to.

Or perhaps half can be sent to local government in the location of their choice directly and the other half to those categories.

Thoughts???

Now, before you call me crazy and ask me why in the world anyone would possibly choose to pay an optional income tax, think about how the world works and see if you can come up with any setups where a person/corporation might be able to benefit themselves by choosing to pay an income tax here...

all the best,

drew