First, what is the goal of making all income taxes public? If the goal is really about having the ability to scrutinize selective individuals with money or powe

First, what is the goal of making all income taxes public? If the goal is really about having the ability to scrutinize selective individuals with money or power, then an across the board demand like this may be over-solving the problem. If the goal is about something else, then there should be more investigation and evidence to support the reasoning. Why is it important that everyone’s income taxes are public? For the average American, what benefit or detriment does having their income taxes publicly accessible serve? There’s many ways it could make life worse for those that are not: rich, politicians, or executives. It’s also a great way for the “ultra rich” to pit the “lower classes” against each other. If people knew their friends’, coworkers’, and family’s income taxes, then it’s an invitation for drama, jealousy, and fighting. Everyone would be comparing themselves against everyone else - like what happens on social media, except with more important monetary figures instead of imaginary internet points. In my opinion, that would further divide people rather than unify them. If someone is a politician, a civil servant representative of the people, then their income taxes should be public as a gesture of government transparency. If people voted someone into office, they have a right to know about who is going to be representing them (at least in my opinion). Many government workers’ salaries are already public information, but it’s easier to be getting much more money from non-salary places the higher up (or the more high profile) someone in the government is. That’s what the real value of seeing their income tax is. The same income tax transparency should, potentially, also be the case for anyone paid using the public’s tax dollars to deter corruption, kickbacks, and behavior not fitting the public interest. For the non-wealthy or non-government individuals, what is gained by knowing the income taxes of some random person reporting $50k/yr? Even if someone reported $100+k/yr income, depending on where they live and what their expenses are it doesn’t guarantee they have a lot of cash on hand or valuable convertible assets. If anything, it gives scammers and thieves more ability to assess people’s refunds and try to steal them (as currently happens). In that sense, there isn’t much public benefit being gained for most individuals.