The federal government should explain exactly where each person’s tax money goes. We need a taxpayer receipt.
A receipt would be easy to create, simple to read and – here’s a word you don’t often associate with the Internal Revenue Service – fun. The document we imagine wouldn’t give taxpayers a way to get their money back. But it would show how much you personally spend each year on government programs such as the FBI, NASA and foreign aid, based on their percentage of the federal budget. By breaking out your contributions, it would make abstract government programs concrete.
Here’s how it should work. After filing your taxes, you would receive an itemized receipt, by e-mail if you file electronically or by regular mail if you send in paper forms. The one-page document would cover major items such as defense, Social Security and interest on the debt. It would also include the address of a Web site that would offer more information on all federal spending, from salaries for members of Congress to Pell grants for higher education to the upkeep of national parks.
I think this is a brilliant idea. And if the government says it can’t be done because they don’t keep track of it at that level, then maybe we shoud examine that as the actual problem, don’t you think?