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Dear Dan,

I just started a job as an administrative assistant (trợ lý hành chính) at a small tax accounting firm. I know people don’t love paying their taxes, but on the front line I’m witnessing a whole new level of animosity. Is there any way to make people less aggravated about it?

—James

The American tax system doesn’t spark a lot of good will. Taxes are incredibly (không tưởng tượng nổi) complicated (phức tạp), and we never really know if our money is paying for schools, roads, social services, the military or something else, which leads people to question what they are getting in return. Seeing the total annual amount all at once makes it seem very large, and it is unsettling to hand over big sums of money without fully understanding where it’s going.

What can we do to make things better? One approach is to give citizens some agency in how their tax dollars are allocated (phân bổ)—for instance, to allow each citizen to allocate 5% of their taxes to whatever government function they think will use their money in the best way. Would such a system work? My research center surveyed taxpayers and found that giving them a choice about allocating some of their taxes increased their interest in tax compliance (tuân thủ về thuế) and reduced their interest in trying tax loopholes (lỗ hổng về thuế).

Bài trước: “Tham nhũng vặt”: Hậu quả không hề “vặt”