Taxpayer Receipt

Show residents what their tax dollars buy.

People are accustomed to getting a receipt when they pay for something, so why not their taxes? The Balancing Act Taxpayer Receipt is an easy, effective way to demonstrate to residents that their money is being put to good use. Residents anonymously input data to generate a customized estimate of taxes paid.

Try Denver's Tax Receipt
Try Ellis County's Tax Receipt

How Balancing Act Taxpayer Receipt Helps

Transparency

Breaks down taxes and shows where money goes

Accountability

Demonstrate how efficiently services are delivered

Participation

The receipt is a great way to connect residents to your simulation

Features

Easy import

Fine-tune questions to get meaningful input

Available in multiple languages

Can be used in face-to-face and online meetings with Meeting Mode, which turns the simulation into a facilitation tool

Would You Like a Receipt with That? An Information-Sharing Tool for Enhancing Citizen Engagement.

"Locally, the taxpayer receipt is a viable information-sharing tool that can be used to educate and inform citizens about numerous aspects of government at the community level. Not simply an accounting of a taxpayer’s total tax burden, the taxpayer receipt breaks down the amount of tax paid by each taxpayer for various county services, thereby encouraging even greater citizen involvement in the budgeting process."

Whitney Afonso, Public Management Bulletin, University of North Carolina School of Government, 2014.

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“If you’ve ever thought, ‘Gosh, I pay a lot in taxes. I wonder how much of that goes to fund the County road by my house,’ this is the app for you,”

-Barbara Wasinger, County Commission Chair
Ellis County, KS

Balancing Act is Used By