Taxes and Other Public Revenue Types

Topic: Economics
Words: 340 Pages: 1

Public revenues contribute to the government budgeting: they provide it with money, enabling it to spend on general needs. There are many sources of public revenue: ideally, they complement each other. When there is a lack of revenue from one source, the temporary excess from other sources can balance it. The most common public revenue sources are taxes, user fees, debt instruments, sales, intergovernmental transfers, and revenues from lotteries and other similar games. Each type has different restrictions and laws which govern how the source should be used.

For example, taxes are the amount specified by laws, which each citizen or organization should pay for operations with money. Most of those operations include personal income and corporate income: citizens and corporations pay taxes from their income to provide the government with money (GreggU, 2018). User fees are paid for services provided by the government; unlike taxes, they are sent directly to the service for which it is paid.

The government controls the lottery and the gaming field in general, and it collects the income from this field. Then, this income sends to create a place for work and study, protect the environment, and other socially beneficial activities. The government also earns money by selling or renting the products and commodities it owns (GreggU, 2018). When financing different activities, the government uses various debt instruments, such as sales of bonds, to provide income. Intergovernmental transfers are used to ensure enough money: they are transferred between different levels, depending on where necessary. Small but essential other public revenue sources are fines and penalties charged for minor crimes.

As one can see, taxes are the primary source of public revenue, and the money from them goes directly to the government. User fees are another vital revenue; money is directed to the specific service that charges the user fee. The government also obtains money from selling property it owns and from the gaming industry, such as lotteries. Other sources of public revenues are financial instruments, such as selling bonds and fines for minor crimes.

Reference

GreggU. (2018). Public Revenue Types [Video]. YouTube. Web.