Japan's Hometown Tax

I LOVE this idea! Here in the US, it could really help out rural communities. The best part is that it is 'free' to everyone; you've already paid the taxes. Small communities could, and do, organize festivals based on local culture: Trout fishing in the summer, Ice festivals in the winter, Duck races in the spring, etc. They get people interested in some aspect of the community, be it a festival, music, the climate, foods, textiles, history, etc. Either way…

Disclaimer: IANAL, IANATA, this isn't tax advice, etc Foreigners residing in Japan are eligible to participate in furusato nouzei, but Americans might want to note the following clause in the section "Tax Must Be the Legal and Actual Foreign Tax Liability" in Publication 514 Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals[1], which states: >Subsidy received. Tax payments a foreign country returns to you in the form of a subsidy do not qualify for the foreign tax credit. >The term “subsidy” includes any…

From the article: > Educating children is incredibly expensive. The regions are quite annoyed that they pay to educate their children but that Tokyo reaps all the benefits. This state of affairs has continued for decades. We see the same problem in USA states. State taxpayer dollars pay for some amount of public college education for state universities. These are typically called "State Appropriations", and varies between 30-80% of the student's overall tuition costs. Back in the 1980's, taxpayers footed…