April 15; The Day to Show Off Your Income, Reflect on Freedom…or Complain. I Choose to Brainstorm…
Tomorrow is our big day. It’s the day that we put our money where our mouths are. In America, we can vote, open a business and cheer for our Olympic Team every two years. To enjoy this freedom, opportunity and national pride, we have to annually pull out our checkbooks. Well, even though we live in the greatest nation the earth has ever known, this process still sorta sucks. There must be a better way.
Having said this, many of us think we have ideas that are better than our current national tax system. I will save my thoughts for a better national system for another Post. I will however, expand on a thought regarding South Carolina’s small business system of paying taxes.
As we all know, most South Carolinians have our taxes paid for us from paycheck to paycheck. Most workers in the Palmetto State have their taxes “taken out” of every paycheck. On a side note, I’ve often heard that more folks would “revolt,” if they received their entire wage, and have to “write a check” (as small business owners do) on April 15th. There is just something different about having to “write that check” in April. Everyone would “feel the pain,” and question our current system more often. Who knows, this may spur a great idea from someone who otherwise wouldn’t have even thought there was a problem.
I don’t know the consequences, but I wonder what would happen if small and micro-businesses could opt to pay their taxes every two to three years, instead of annually. On the surface, I would argue that a small business would be able to grow at a much more rapid pace, if they were able to do this.
To be able to use that same money to advertise, buy equipment or hire new employees, would be a great tool in today’s economic environment. Consequently, if a business opted to take this route, the business would be volunteering themselves, to be monitored very closely, so that things don’t “get out of control.”
What a great tool this could be. On a personal note (as a Realtor), I could use this money to expand in many ways, only to have a better chance to be more successful. If I am more successful, I am going to owe even more taxes, just at a later date.
Who knows, we could be the first state in the nation to adopt such a program. If so, we could market this and subsequently, recruit a plethora of entrepreneurs. We could then truly brand ourselves as the state that’s “Open For Business.”
