if trimming fat should always be rewarded in a recession then for every kilo an obese child loses, parents get a tax break. if weight is regained, tax rates go up again. any loss in tax revenues gets recovered from reduced health care costs. if we require principles that are easy to understand and healthy to implement, let's swap fat for tax then! :)

Imagine companies decided one day to charge for servicing us with a smile. Press 1 if you would like this service with a smile (small charge applies). Press 2 if you don't like to be served with a smile (get a discount). Press 1 and a beautiful Colgate-smile will soon be with you. Press 2 to save money. Why do we take it for granted that people will serve us with a smile on their face? (read more)

How about taxing corporate profits according to the ease with which they are made? By ease I don't mean fraud or illegal scams. Here's an example.

In the US, gift cards are a $73 billion a year business. Best Buy, for example, reported $40 million in gains from gift cards that are never used. Had customers used the cards, the company's profit would have been less. Say it would have been $5 million. If that's the case, then the company pocketed an extra 35 it did nothing to deserve and had it taxed at the same rate as other sources of profit. The extra profit, however, was not gained on corporate merit, it's exclusively based on customers' forgetfulness. Therefore, instead of taxing it at the company's overal tax rate, say 20%-30% or whatever it is, tax it at 40% or higher or force the company to spend it on charity. (read more)

What would happen if we sneaked a tiny little clause in the fine print of new finance regulations that will allow our President to invoke Taxpayer Privilege in using inside info to manipulate the market on behalf of taxpayers?

Scenario 1. Health care reform doesn't pass. Health insurance and medical companies' stocks make a rally. The White House knows about the deal before the news reach the market and instructs the Treasury to buy health stocks. With the trillion profits it will make selling them after the news is out, it bails out taxpayers. That's Sweet! (read more)

many people do not switch to energy-efficient appliances because they think the cost is too high or the time it will take to recover the cost too long. so what about giving tax breaks on all family expenses related to better energy efficiency and savings? bought a new solar panel or energy-efficient light bulbs or a new hybrid car? deduct it from your taxable income and pay less taxes. make all energy efficient stuff tax-free

Wine bars that are value for money and save the owner taxes. Wine bars that have faith in people's honesty. For the price of one euro, you “rent” yourself a glass and get to sample as many of the wines as you want. At the end of the night you throw some bills or coins into a big jar, the amount based on how much you think you spent. You don't pay, you donate! (read more)

Pork barrel politics is spending taxpayers money on projects that benefit special interests and lobbyists. Obama proposed that all such spending be reported online for the public to know where the money is spent. Knowing where the money was spent after it was spent helps transparency but doesn't give direct decision making power to the public. I think online majority vote for all such projects will give people full control. (read more)

This is for countries where bribery is rampant. Make bribes legal and create a site where people post the amount they pay in bribes. Transparency in bribes will drive the cost of bribing down as no one will agree to pay more if someone else bribed for less. The hidden cost of bribery will become known and will allow people to do more business freed from the fear of being caught. Actually those receiving the bribes should also be allowed to accept credit cards which will allow for more transparency due to electronic recording of transactions. By legalizing bribery, authorities can also tax it. (read more)

The perfect name to use if you plan to start a new escort agency in Italy or rename your existing business. Inspired by Tarantini, the Italian businessman who hired escorts to attend parties at Berlusconi's homes. Tarantini denies any wrongdoing and says he brought women to the parties to make a "beautiful impression." Italians are notorious for tax evasion so maybe avoiding paying taxes is his real motive for making a beautiful impression. Whatever the motive, however, I can't think of a better way to name an escort agency in Italy. Italians have an interesting sense of words, if they apply it to marketing their shady business, there's the next great world export from Italy :-))

I imagine that in the future paper money will be replaced by e-paper money. If electronic paper can be made to work as a scanner, it could then scan for fingertips and transmit the identity of the person when close to a wireless network. This could help monitor the flow of cash in the economy and help catch tax fraudsters, terrorists and criminals who tend to use cash to avoid detection by the police. (read more)