. . Subject: Different form of taxation within a DAVID-system economy . . . . . If people who have not payed, or are unable to pay their taxation somehow, are put to work doing the work that the taxation would pay for if all had payed their share of public burden and they actually accomplish those tasks for a reduced cost/wage in such a way that it saves the public government exactly the amount these non-tax payed people would have had to pay, then this makes the public government their finances coherent. Envision this in an economy where income distribution is (mathematical term) normalized (that is most earn average, the same earn more as earn less), as opposed to how it is distributed now (many earn little, few earn a lot). It doesn't matter right now how this is accomplished (you wouldn't understand it anyway, would you?). Taxation system: everyone pays the same amount per month, no other taxes on people or labor or profit. Say the value of that taxation is about 1 average 8 hour work day work per week. That's what the ppl are paying for the public services, and let's say it is doing the job. The government of course never lends, inflation is kept at an absolutely rock steady 0% through centuries. There is a maximum on private wealth at 30 x average wealth. It is a free trade system basically, but the finer points of it are not relevant for this problem. Now, you'd obviously run in the problem that some ppl do not pay their taxation because they have not earned money or not enough to pay taxes. For a few people this issue could be accepted, but it can't grow too big or it would be an issue. The question is: what to do with those who haven't payed their taxes, without falling in some kind of small exception-category that the public could allow (for example sick, disabled people.) They have no money. If you put them into jail, that will help if you can make most people then pay their taxation. But I thought that the "working it off" scheme would be interesting. The public has for example decided it wants greenery/park maintenance, obviously there are bureaucratic tasks to accomplish, offices of the government that do need cleaning, and so on and so on. The government could decide on, say, 10 jobs that most people could do if they fail to pay their taxes. People can even learn new skills this way. It depends on the number of people who have failed to pay their taxes on how many 'pay tax through work' open jobs you need. In the ultimate situation: nobody ever pays any tax, everyone always works it off. In financial terms, even that would work, although it seems tenuous, if not useless, to do it that day (but it proves the principle, and it works in a simplified set-up). Because there is a certain over-head to also pay for now, and because people who work do need food, drink, warmth and shelter at the very *least*, these people who work it off still have to get payed money for those basics. Thus: say they earn only 50% when working it off, or maybe only a basic-needs rate of N,- / hour. The difference between what gov would regularly pay for such services, and what they have to pay these tax-workers, that's the amount those tax-workers are paying off their taxation debt. In the 50% example, a person would work 2 days a week to work it off for an averaged payed job (say, compared to all the people who are doing those jobs for the government in regular employement). In a month that is about 8 working days then. Because of overhead of the system (ppl employed by the public to run this tax-work scheme and administer it) itself, maybe that becomes 9 days. During which those tax-workers still would get pay. If they accept 0 pay, that would reduce to only 1 day / week. Seems to make sense to me. I readily admit the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Seems like a candidate for an experiment (NOT in the capitalist system, though, that system requires extremely heavy progressive income taxes and heavy profit-taxes, capital gains taxes and all kinds of taxes, to shackle the evil rich exploiters and force them to repay part of their loot.) -- http://www.socialism.nl