Tax Law

Reductio Ad Absurdum: The Internal Revenue Code Needs Provisions For A 'Blue Tax'

How should Congress allocate 'blue tax dollars'? Here are several ideas.

By ALYSSA S. HODGES  
on

Money Bag Icon on Color Circle Background PatternEd. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Alyssa S. Hodges to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.

On May 19, 2022, Oklahoma State Representative Mickey Dollens (D) facetiously invited the House to co-author an outrageous bill with him. The bill would require pubescent boys “to get a mandatory vasectomy that’s only reversible when they reach the point of financial and emotional stability.” Telling young men what they must do with their reproductive organs is abhorrent. It is invasive and controlling. And some of those young men may never even reach financial or emotional stability. So, what I propose instead is that Congress provide for a “blue tax” in the Internal Revenue Code.

At puberty, young men should begin paying modest federal and state “blue taxes.” If a young man is not employed at the time he reaches puberty, he will not be expected to pay his blue taxes, but his blue taxes will begin to accrue interest. Once the young man obtains employment, his accrued interest is to be paid on top of the blue tax when he files his first income tax return. The blue tax should continue to be due each year, until the man’s death. If the man fails to pay the blue tax, the government should put a lien on his property or his estate until the blue tax, and any subsequent interest accrued, are paid in full.

How should Congress allocate “blue tax dollars”? I have several ideas.

First, Congress should allocate some of these blue tax funds to assist low-income, pregnant women with obtaining access to quality healthcare. If young men see that their blue tax dollars are being used to fund healthcare for pregnant women and their infants, most assuredly these young men, especially if they are pro-life, should happily pay their blue taxes each year.

Second, the blue tax should be used to bridge the 15% to 20% “motherhood penalty” gap, by providing education funds for pregnant women who have not had access to higher education. In turn, access to higher education will ensure that pregnant women and new mothers obtain better employment. Better employment for single mothers will reduce the need for welfare programs, as the legislative intent for many of these programs was to help low-income, single mothers.

Third, the blue tax should be used to provide access to affordable work-related childcare for low-income single mothers. In the 1930s, there were federally funded nursery schools for children. These nursery schools were expanded during World War II when women began working outside the home because the men were fighting in the war. Once the war ended, the expectation was that women would resume childcare duties at home, and the federal nursery school programs were no longer funded. Today, if the blue taxes were enacted, blue tax dollars would allow the government to fund these programs again. These programs would allow low-income, single mothers access to low- or no-cost work-related childcare. If single mothers obtain better paying jobs — and childcare to allow them to work those jobs — it follows that welfare programs would not need as much funding.

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Fourth, blue tax dollars could fund state agency welfare programs for children. In Missouri, Children’s Division investigates child abuse and neglect cases. Children’s Division is so underfunded that some caseworkers are selling plasma just to afford to live. Meanwhile, politicians are currently arguing to further decrease funding to Children’s Division. Blue tax dollars could mean more funding to protect children who are at risk for abuse or neglect.

Critics may argue that Congress could not possibly have the authority to create a blue tax. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.” Therefore, a blue tax is well within Congress’ power to enact. A blue tax would be constitutional.

If you are now wondering how it could possibly be constitutional to saddle a person with a lifelong responsibility for other people, simply by virtue of his or her gender, welcome to the club. While I am waiting for Congress to enact a blue tax, I am actively looking for ways to help single parents in the meantime because I know they are going to need help now more than ever. Regardless of (or, perhaps, in spite of) your religious and political views, I hope you’ll join me in looking for ways to help low-income, single parents and their children.

Alyssa S. HodgesAlyssa S. Hodges is the founding partner of ASH LAW LLC, a boutique firm focused on fierce family law advocacy and thoughtful estate planning. In 2022, she completed a tax law LLM program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Visit FireBreathingLitigator.com for more information. Interested in helping single parents attend law school? Visit law.umkc.edu/give and select the “RBG Endowed Scholarship Fund” from the dropdown. 

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