Prior to World War II there was no withholding taxes to the federal government. This was enacted in order to pay for wars and debts at the time and to make it “easier” on citizens to pay their federal taxes. What if we went back to the way it use to be? What if we went back to citizens being required to pay their taxes monthly in one installment? One could argue we would have a problem on our hands because citizens do not have enough self-discipline to save enough to pay what they owe the federal government month to month. We see this in the delight many citizens have when they receive their “tax rebate” check following an April 15th deadline. However it makes me wonder if we went back to the way it use to be, would voting citizens would be inclined to hold our federally elected officials more accountable when it comes to their spending sprees? Therefore making our federal monthly payment much lower?
If you make $50,000 a year and your federally elected officials take 25% (the current 2013 rate). This means your yearly tax bill would be $12,500. Mind you that is just your federal taxes. That means, every month, you would be writing a check for $1,041 (JUST in FEDERAL taxes). When you wrote that check I’m guessing it would probably sting a bit. Could you imagine having to sit down and take that money out of your account monthly? The irony is that YOU DO! Every month, but because they withhold the taxes, it’s like you’ve never seen it. If you never had it, you can’t miss it, right? Most low information voters don’t realize that the rebate they get back every year is not a prize rather it’s EXCESS money the federal government has taken from you throughout the year. The federal government is now giving that money back without interest.
The federal government just takes that money; month by month, throughout the year and hope because it was never in your bank account, you won’t realize how much you are paying them. Wouldn’t you be more inclined to ask questions when you went to the voting booth if you had to pay that large sum month by month? I would guess yes. What if we kept the withholding aspect in place but asked the IRS and our elected officials to provide a detailed breakdown every tax time of where our money went? The IRS is so big on you providing documentation to them. Why should we not demand the IRS show accountability to us? They like to exert a scary amount of power over us, why should we not as citizens be entitled that they show us where exactly where our money is going? If you could see a detailed breakdown, would you be more inclined to ask your elected representatives to be more accountable to the money they are spending? Wouldn’t you like to see all of the bills they introduced in congress? Have them tell you how many tax dollars it would take to fund that bill? AND THEN (here’s the kicker) force them to disclose the lobbyist organizations that are pushing that bill? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

I actually like paying taxes when I can see the direct benefit it is having. I like paying taxes to the federal government when I know that it is going towards defense. When my money is going towards paying our service men and women and our veterans. When I know that that money is going towards protecting our liberties afforded to us by the constitution. I don’t mind paying federal taxes when the money is going to protect monuments that appreciate and acknowledge our history. There are a few programs that the federal government oversees that I desire to pay taxes for; but there are some. There should be some.
Taxes are okay, but they should voted on by people locally and benefit those locally. Where we can all see tangible evidence of the good our collective funds are having. We need to recognize the insanity that we are now in a spot as the United States of America where states are begging and compromising their sovereign convictions in order to get money from the federal government. This means two things: 1. We have been paying too much money in federal taxes. 2. States rights have been severely put on the back burner. I am a.o.k paying takes when they are going towards essential services like paying for those who legitimately cannot care for themselves. When we are giving money to support the disabled or sick. Children who are born with disabilities should have access to caring state government officials who can advocate on how to make their lives better. When we figure out a program to show women that they don’t have to have an abortion, I will probably vote to give that legislation all of my money. I like paying for early education programs for kids whose parents can’t afford to send them to pre-school (because it’s expensive). I want to pay for safe parks for kids to play in. I want to pay for safe places for children to go when their home life is less than desirable. I want our public schools to be the best they can be, but I love the idea of charter schools. All of this needs to be done on the state level. Entitlements need to be redirected to the state level where there is more control and direct benefit for a smaller population.
Let’s localize our money back to the states where we all have better control and accountability of where the money is spent. This way we can all see the benefits of our collective efforts. Let us demand our federal officials do what they are elected to do: protect our country from outside aggressors.