For a start, it might be good to actually thank individual taxpayers for chucking significant amounts of their hard-earned pay into the exchequer. Perhaps that type of data would give individuals a greater level of attachment to the country that their taxes finance. Providing detail of this type would also help balance the various debates that go on around tax. If taxpayers had better information on how much of their money was going into each part of the State’s mechanisms, it would help balance the arguments in favour, or against, more taxes and spending. Too often, the voices of individual taxpayers are lost in the media spin and in the press releases that dominate the narratives about health and education.

Source: Irish Examiner January 21, 2020 16:18 UTC