
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 22, 1994                   TAG: 9408230051
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DAN H. PLETTA
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MIGHT VOLUNTARY TAXES SAVE AMERICA?

RICHARD WILKINSON'S Aug. 3 letter to the editor, ``The lottery's democratic principles,'' stated that ``reasonable people [don't] see it [the lottery] as a tax.'' Perhaps so, but it's a stupid way to gamble because of the excessive ``house take.''

Louis Glenn's June 22 letter to the editor (``The state's `sucker' game'') refers to the lottery as ``giving those who play it'' 7 million-to-1 odds. He goes on to say, ``Even professional gamblers give their suckers better odds than that.''

Most gambling casinos, I believe, charge about 8 percent for expenses as their house take. Wilkinson cites figures to show that of the $4.3 billion collected by selling lottery tickets, only $2.4 billion (57 percent) is paid out in prizes. Thus, Virginia's ``house take'' is 43 percent, or five times greater than a casino's.

The most rewarding place to gamble is on your neighbor's dining-room table on a Saturday night. The ``house'' takes nothing, and furnishes refreshments in addition.

The lottery is really a voluntary tax, even though players don't see it as such. Some years ago, I proposed that society junk the income tax but levy a transactions tax, like a sales tax, on all types of payments. That would necessitate a cashless society using checks or credit cards for all purchases and settlements, which would be instantly transmitted electronically.

Banks would deduct a transaction tax on monthly statements, and pay the government. But the government's spending would also be taxed. Imagine that, taxing the government and not having to keep any records!

One could also argue for making all taxes voluntary. Throughout history all governments have collected taxes by force. No government lasted more than 600 years. That was Rome. England lasted 300 years as a world power. The United States has enjoyed that world leadership position for 200 years, and its financial reputation is on the skids.

Other institutions that exist on voluntary contributions, like the major religions, have existed for 1,500 to 6,000 years. So, maybe, if governments made all taxes voluntary, they would last longer. To do that, bureaucrats would have to shape up and please the customers - or their successors would.

Maybe we should encourage all politicians to make voluntary taxes a plank in their platforms.

Dan H. Pletta is a retired Virginia Tech professor.

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