Member-only story
How To Increase Tax Revenue
Using ego to get people to pay more tax!
The whole concept of thinking outside the box on tax policy was brought to my attention by the brilliant Rory Sutherland in one of his many engaging talks on YouTube. Rory hypothesised that giving top-rate taxpayers a special “high band taxpayer only” lane on the motorway would incentivise the super-rich to stop burying their money offshore and hand it over to the HMRC.
Many would-be outraged at such an idea, it is easy to see why, high earners have big enough egos already, surely, they do not deserve such a privilege? Rory makes the counterpoint that if you give people a chance to show off their wealth you can get them to do pretty much anything. Rory describes how the ancient Romans used this technique to incentivise tax payment. They would offer to anyone who pays a special tax the opportunity to have their name immortalised in stone for everyone to see. Of course, people became obsessed with paying the extra tax simply so they could show off their wealth.
I understand that you may be wondering why all these entitled rich people should get free stuff for doing something the rest of us are forced to do without reward. The point however is more nuanced. The rich are finding more and more ways to reduce their yearly payment to the HMRC, if you could find a way to encourage them to increase their…
