Many countries have a simple, fair tax system. Could the US be next?

Tax Day doesn’t have to be stressful. Governments around the world make paying taxes easy. How? By filling out tax returns for people instead of expecting them to slog through the forms themselves.

ReadyReturn is the only program in the United States that provides taxpayers with completed tax returns. It’s simple, easy, and has a 99% user satisfaction rate. Who’s not happy? Intuit, H&R Block, and other tax preparers who have fought the California program every step of the way.

In Estonia, filing a tax return takes five minutes or less. The country has a simple tax system and laws that permit the government to gather data from employers, banks, and other third parties to generate pre-filled tax returns. Taxpayers review the forms and make any needed edits, then click “send.”

vTaiwan is a mixed-reality, scaled listening exercise used by the government as a new way to make decisions. The platform provides an online space for citizens to debate and for politicians to listen to. The government lays out political questions, such as regulating Uber or changing time zones, and people can share their feelings, agree and disagree, but divisive statements and trolling are not posted. After debating for a period of time it became apparent that people converged around points of consensus. The government has implemented about a dozen laws and regulations based on the discussions.

As second-home owners increase property values and decrease the supply of residences in Gunnison County, its year-round community faces a dwindling affordable housing stock. Nearby, a popular tourist town of Breckenridge in neighboring Summit County has been able to deliver a measurable increase in affordable homes. The Gunnison County Housing Authority is following Summit's goal-oriented, community-driven solution, and turning to residents to form a community plan and vision.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the small outpost of Estonia has reinvented itself as the world’s digital pioneer. Everything from paying taxes to establishing companies is done online and takes minutes. Lawmakers even sign legislation using digital signatures, not fountain pens.

Government services are easily accessible in Estonia in part because everything is online. A digital signature carries the same weight as a physical signature, and data is shared between offices allowing forms such as tax returns to be pre-filled for citizens. The country leapfrogged the rest of the world, investing in digital literacy and infrastructure in an effort to serve its small, spread-out population.

The pressure is on for the federal government to spend tax money more wisely. Evidence-based policy making is gaining in popularity as a way for the government to spend tax money wisely. While not quite as flashy or exciting as past ways, this has a proven track record of positive impact.

A tax credit was supposed to incentive Americans to buy electric vehicles, but testimony from car buyers and research has shown that only people who can afford the full purchase are getting access to the benefit. The tax break gives electric car purchasers a credit on their taxes the following year, but only as much as they owe the government. The purchase could end up costing more than buyers expected, which can be a barrier for people who want to switch to electric.

Collective, or shared, candidacies, where groups of candidates to run for a single elected position in Brazil, has helped elevate women and other marginalized groups with progressive platforms to rise to power. From 2016 and 2018, 22 of the 98 groups that ran were elected. In 2020, 41% of the joint candidacies were led by women. A national bill to formalize collective candidacies has stalled since 2017, so one member of the group is formally elected, and is the one to cast votes and give formal speeches, while the others are hired as advisers but still are empowered to write and propose bills.