A TDB can take various forms depending upon the environment it is to be utilized it. Some of the various alternate TDB formats are discussed so that those who might ponder alternatives (such as state taxes, school levys, etc) can have their interest peaked to further thoughts. Before one thinks that this is going a little over board, it should be mentioned that a local school district did just send out the equivalent to a TDB to gather information on the public's perception of needs for future school funding. It was an independently developed TDB process.
Of the various forms of TDBs one might contemplate, one might have a socialized TDB where each individual filing a TDB would have an equal say in how the tax dollars are budgeted. One might call this a Voter Directed Budget (VDB). This is perhaps not the most desirable in a free market economy as it circumvents one of the intended check and balances of a free market TDB. It would however provide a means for socialized governments (who are typically under fiscal strains) to allow the citizens to direct their nation's direction. It is felt that a VDB is not in the best interests of the US federal government, however it may have applications elsewhere in and out of our nation.
Alternatively, one might have a TDB where ALL weight of the TDB depends upon the amount of taxes paid. This would provide the productive who pay most of the taxes to have the most input into the direction of the nation budget. It is entirely possible that such a TDB system would result in a nation with maximum prosperity over other forms of budgeting with or without a TDB. It is worthy of contemplation to notice that such a pure TDB promotes a strong check and balance to the 'fairness' of the tax code. Those who feel the rich should pay more taxes cannot honestly argue that the same people who pay most of the taxes should not also have a greater say in their disposition under a TDB. However, stranger glitches in logic can be seen in everyday political/economic perspectives.
The TDB defined in this home page is a compromise between these two alternatives. Income matters how much your TDB controls, but even those not paying taxes who file a TDB have some say in the process. Perhaps one might call the form of TDB herein defined as a Citizen Directed Budget.
The justification for this compromise is that there are many taxes (such as corporate tax, general excise taxes, etc) that are not related to income that are hidden from the average citizen or not part of the income tax return. Yet everyone pays a share of these taxes with every product and service they buy. The TDB defined in this homepage allows for those who pay no income taxes to still be able to leverage the amount of taxes that they pay that are not subject to income taxation and those who pay some taxes to actually leverage more of the budget than they pay in taxes.