Changing from Hidden to Transparent Taxes: Implement The Plan Over Time

I believe that a plan to change from hidden to transparent taxes will be best received if it is designed to be implemented over time.  Human nature being what it is, people will adapt to change easier when given enough time and sufficient advance information.


I could also speak of the potential benefits to business, government, and other organizations.  But all of these are staffed and operated by people.  So what works best for people, will also work best for the people who operate these other organizations.

Suggest the first hidden tax ended is property taxes.

While different cities and counties will need to learn what the people they serve will want to have as the first hidden tax to end, my suggestion is to have property taxes be the first, or at least very near the top of the list.

Lower rents would be seen by renters.

Ending property taxes would help lower rents for those who are currently unable to buy.  Most people will spend at least a major portion of the money they save as a result of lower rents.  This potential new spending would be good for the local economy.

Changing P.I.T.I. to P.I.I. would help home owners and new home sales.

Ending property taxes in favor of a transparent tax would also have the effect of removing the “taxes” portion of the current P.I.T.I. figure used to estimate how much home a person can afford to buy.  With the property tax portion removed, it would become a P.I.I. figure.

Assuming the buyer’s income is the same, they would be able to apply more of their monthly payment toward principle and interest, which would allow them to buy more home on the same income.

There would also be the potential for home buyers to simply make a smaller payment on the same sized home.

Either way, I see a very real potential for the near-term and long-term effect of ending property taxes as a way to effectively motivate more people to be able to afford to buy homes, which would create at least some demand for new homes.  Again, this would be good for at least the local economy.

Make changes over time, giving counties, cities, and voters time to adjust.

I simply cannot emphasize enough the importance of making this kind of major change over time.  This is especially important for those cities and counties who currently do not have sufficient consumer oriented businesses to allow for a change away from their dependence on hidden to transparent taxes.

Why?  Because a city which so far has attracted industrial businesses which sell to other businesses or which export, would not have a good source of transparent taxes after making the change I’m proposing.

This would mean that the few consumer oriented businesses they have would need to collect a very high transparent tax.  This would make it very hard for them to attract and keep consumer business within their city, (or within their county, as the case may be).

These cities and counties that are currently very light as to the amount of consumer oriented businesses they attract would need time to effectively design and implement a plan by which to attract the needed new consumer oriented businesses as part of working toward a healthy industrial – consumer business balance.

With this in mind, they may need to be able to hold onto at least some of their hidden taxes for a while longer than their neighboring cities and counties.  At the same time, they would need to look to the effect their hidden taxes would have on their ability to keep businesses that might be tempted to move elsewhere during the process of making the change.

Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
No part or portion of this publication may be modified in any manner without the express written permission of the author.  Quoting from this publication is allowed on condition that the name of the author and the name of the publication are included.