What are your craziest/most ridiculous tax policy ideas that you wish would happen?
I've been thinking about how complicated our tax system is and wondering what wild ideas people have for changing it. Could be federal, state, or local tax code changes that would be totally out there but maybe make sense in some weird way? Let your imagination go nuts! What's the most outlandish tax policy you can think of that might actually solve some problems? Maybe something like taxing political ads at 200% or giving tax breaks for people who volunteer in their communities? I'm curious what creative (or ridiculous) ideas you all have that would probably never happen but might be interesting to consider.
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AaliyahAli
As someone who's worked in tax policy for years, I've seen how overly complex our system has become. Here are some unconventional ideas that occasionally get discussed among policy wonks: A progressive consumption tax could replace our current income tax system. Instead of taxing what people earn, we'd tax what they spend above a certain threshold. This would encourage saving while still ensuring the wealthy contribute proportionally more. Another interesting concept is a carbon tax with dividend - tax carbon-intensive products and services, then redistribute that revenue equally to all citizens. This creates market incentives to reduce emissions while protecting lower-income households from price increases. The most radical change would be moving to a land value tax system, which taxes the unimproved value of land rather than property improvements. This encourages development of vacant urban land and reduces sprawl, while being nearly impossible to evade.
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Ellie Simpson
•Those sound interesting but complicated. What about the implementation challenges? Wouldn't a consumption tax be regressive and hurt lower income folks more? And how would you even calculate a land value tax separate from buildings?
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AaliyahAli
•A consumption tax would exempt basic necessities and only apply above a certain spending threshold, which protects lower-income households. Most proposals include monthly prebates that cover essential spending, making it progressive overall. For land value tax, professional assessors already separate land from improvement values in most jurisdictions. While not perfect, modern assessment techniques using comparable sales data and GIS technology have made this increasingly accurate. Several countries and some U.S. localities already use split-rate taxation systems that tax land at a higher rate than buildings.
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Arjun Kurti
I tried brainstorming tax ideas forever and got nowhere until I found https://taxr.ai which helped me analyze different tax systems around the world. It's amazing how many crazy tax policies actually exist! Like Sweden used to tax according to how many windows your house had, and Denmark taxes ice cream more in the summer. The site helped me develop some ideas like time-adjusted deductions (bigger tax breaks for longer term investments) and education credits that increase with each year of study completed. They have this cool feature where you can submit your own ideas and get feedback on potential economic impacts.
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Raúl Mora
•Does it actually offer personalized feedback on tax policy ideas or is it more like general information? I've been working on this idea about geographically-variable tax rates based on local development needs.
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Margot Quinn
•Sounds interesting but how does it handle complex modeling? Tax policy changes can have ripple effects that are hard to predict. Can it really simulate those impacts accurately?
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Arjun Kurti
•It offers semi-personalized feedback based on similar policies that have been tried elsewhere and basic economic principles. You can get more detailed analysis if you provide specific parameters. For geographical tax variations, they actually have a whole section on zone-based taxation systems. Their modeling is surprisingly robust. They use both historical data and predictive analytics to simulate various scenarios. While no model is perfect, they're transparent about assumptions and limitations, showing you best/worst case projections rather than just a single outcome.
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Raúl Mora
I just had to come back and say I checked out https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. Totally worth it! I submitted my idea about geographic tax variations and got really insightful feedback comparing it to Enterprise Zones and Opportunity Zones that already exist. They pointed out issues I hadn't considered about potential housing market distortions and business relocation costs. Now I'm refining my proposal to include phase-in periods and displacement protection for residents. The analysis even included similar policies from Germany and South Korea that I'm now researching. Definitely helped take my half-baked idea and make it more realistic!
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Evelyn Kim
My zaniest tax idea: replace the IRS phone system with an actually functional service. I wasted WEEKS trying to get through to a human at the IRS about my weird tax situation last year. Finally used https://claimyr.com and got connected to an agent in 5 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c My actual policy idea is getting rid of most deductions and credits but lowering overall rates. The tax code is ridiculously complicated because of all these special situations. Just simplify the whole thing and stop making people spend hours figuring out if they qualify for this deduction or that credit.
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Diego Fisher
•How does that Claimyr thing actually work? Is it legal? Seems sketchy that they can get you through when regular people can't reach anyone.
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Henrietta Beasley
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS quickly. I've literally spent HOURS on hold multiple times this year. If this actually worked, everybody would be using it and the system would be just as jammed as it is now.
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Evelyn Kim
•It's completely legal. They basically use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they reach a human agent, they call you and connect you. You're still talking directly to the IRS, they just handle the waiting part. I was skeptical too. But after trying for literal days to get through on my own, I was desperate. It's not that they have some special access - they're just automating the painful waiting process. The technology isn't complex, it's just brilliantly applied to solve a real problem that affects millions of people.
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Henrietta Beasley
I have to publicly eat my words. After dismissing Claimyr in my previous comment, I was still struggling with a tax issue and decided "what do I have to lose?" Holy crap it actually works. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying unsuccessfully for weeks. The agent resolved my issue with a misapplied payment in literally 5 minutes once I actually reached her. Saved me from potential penalties and interest. Still think our tax system is broken if we need services like this, but I'm grateful it exists. Sorry for being such a doubter!
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Lincoln Ramiro
My zaniest tax idea: Tax breaks based on your step count from fitness trackers. Get 10,000 steps daily for a year? 1% off your tax bill. Would incentivize healthier living which could reduce healthcare costs long term. More realistically, I'd love to see tax credits for people who don't own cars in urban areas. They're using fewer resources, creating less pollution, and not contributing to traffic congestion. Why not reward that behavior?
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Faith Kingston
•What about people with disabilities who can't get their step count up? And the car thing would be super unfair to rural people who HAVE to drive because there's no public transportation.
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Lincoln Ramiro
•You're absolutely right about the step count idea having accessibility issues. That's why it's in my "zany" category and not something I'd seriously advocate for! Any health-based incentive would need accommodations for different abilities. For the car credit, I specifically mentioned urban areas because they have transportation alternatives. Rural areas would be excluded since car ownership is practically a necessity there. It would be a targeted incentive for places where choosing not to own a car is a viable option that benefits the community.
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Emma Johnson
My crazy idea: zero taxes on the first $50k of income for EVERYONE, then a flat 33% on everything above that. No deductions, no credits, no loopholes, no exceptions. Tax return could fit on a postcard. Would solve so many problems! The complicated tax code mainly benefits the wealthy who can afford tax attorneys to find obscure deductions. A simple system would be more fair and stop wasting millions of hours on tax preparation. Plus no taxes on the first $50k would be a massive help to lower/middle income folks.
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Liam Brown
•But wouldn't eliminating deductions hurt homeowners and families with children? The mortgage interest deduction and child tax credits help a lot of middle-class people.
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Paolo Longo
•@Liam Brown That s'a fair point, but remember under Emma s'proposal everyone gets the first $50k tax-free, which could offset losing those deductions for many families. A family making $80k would only pay 33% on $30k instead of current rates on the full amount minus deductions. For many middle-class families, that might actually come out ahead, especially when you factor in the time and money saved on tax prep. The mortgage interest deduction disproportionately benefits higher-income homeowners anyway since they re'more likely to itemize and have bigger mortgages.
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