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Box 3.1: Check-list of questions to ask when contemplating the introduction of tax
mechanisms
What
1. Will it provide all of the funding for what you want to achieve and, if not, are you confident of finding the
remainder?
2. How vulnerable are your plans to changes in property values, incomes, and retail activity?
3. If it involves a tax credit, is there evidence that this is generating additional giving?
Why
4. Why do you want it? Have you cut out all wasteful spending and prioritized?
5. Are you willing to see a share of your tax revenue restricted to certain causes?
6. Will it set a precedent, with interest groups constantly looking for their own dedicated tax?
Where
7. Where do those who use the asset live?
8. Is there a body that could levy a tax across the geographical scale within which most asset users live?
When
9. Given that taxes take time to introduce, how urgent is your need?
10. How long will it last when introduced? Will it give a degree of certainty and also the opportunity to cancel
it?
How
11. If you want to issue a bond, what is your city’s credit rating?
12. Will it be easy to assess and collect? Can it be done alongside other tax collection?
13. Will the public have a vote on its introduction?
14. If it involves a vote, can this take place alongside other elections?
15. Can you be sure that other funding agencies will not cut support in line with what your tax is raising?
16. How are principles of fairness taken into account in terms of who pays, what they pay, and who benefits?
17. If it involves a tax credit, how bureaucratic will it be for smaller charities to participate?
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