The New IRS Lets Taxpayers Have Their Say in Government Spending
Laura McQuarrie — April 17, 2014 — Pop Culture
'The New IRS' is a project by Alex Ebert that aims to bridge the gap between how taxpayers want their money to be spent, versus how democratic governments actually spend that money. A visit to The New IRS website pulls up a pie chart where Americans can play politician and create their own tax allocation plans. On the pie graph, users can move slider bars to raise or lower the percentage of money that should be allocated to different categories like national defence, international affairs, health care and education.
After finishing your tax allocation plan, The New IRS allows you to fill in some personal information, which will be anonymously submitted to relevant parties based on the location and demographic information submitted. After tax day, The New IRS will put up a comparison between the government's proposed budgets and your own.
After finishing your tax allocation plan, The New IRS allows you to fill in some personal information, which will be anonymously submitted to relevant parties based on the location and demographic information submitted. After tax day, The New IRS will put up a comparison between the government's proposed budgets and your own.
Trend Themes
1. People-powered Budgeting - Crowdsourcing of government spending priorities presents an opportunity to leverage citizen feedback for better public financial management.
2. Taxpayer-driven Policy Making - Incorporating taxpayer input in the policy making process through people-powered budgeting may improve satisfaction and trust in government.
3. Transparency & Accountability in Government Spending - Platforms that enable taxpayers to voice their budget priorities and monitor implementation provide an avenue for ensuring transparency and accountability.
Industry Implications
1. Government & Public Administration - Governments can use people-powered budgeting to increase citizen engagement and trust with the public sector in budget formulation processes.
2. Technology - Developers can build platforms to empower taxpayers to share feedback and engage with government on public financial management.
3. Consulting - Consultants and experts can help governments design and implement people-powered budgeting systems and ensure they receive actionable insights from the feedback.
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