Voluntary taxation

Voluntary taxation is a theory that states that taxation should be a voluntary act. Under the theory, people should have the option to pay taxes instead of being forced to pay taxes by their government. Under this theory, the people would control how much they pay and where they spend it. The theory is a part of Objectivist politics and many libertarian ideologies. State lotteries are an example of a voluntary taxation system which incentivizes giving with the chance of individual rewards.

Proponents of some studies assert that individuals would voluntarily give to government to support specific functions. In one study, subjects were each given $20 to anonymously allocate between themselves and a designated charitable organization at their discretion (repeated for 12 different organizations, $240 total/subject). Voluntary donations averaged 22% for government organizations and 27% for private nonprofits, and were influenced by their cause, level, and perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency (on average, 76% of the endowment was kept by the subjects).

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