Speaking of taxes and the IRS, we always welcome clever and innovative policy ideas from HOTLINE readers, and sometimes we like to pass them on to see what you think.

Every year the IRS would randomly select two taxpayers from each state.  These 100 taxpayers are the winners of a lifetime Federal Income Tax EXEMPTION, contingent on each lottery winner passing a very thorough audit after selection. Pass the audit, and you are exempt for life!

The magic in this concept is that the increase in IRS receipts, due to higher compliance (reduced deductions and greater side income declaration) would swamp the amount of tax receipts foregone by issuing the exemptions.

The higher one’s income, the greater the financial incentive to fill out an honest return.

Most Tax Lottery winners will be low- and mid-level earners with whom the exemption will not come at great cost to the Treasury.

Selecting two winners per state would geographically spread the winnings and add to this concept’s popularity with the public.

Another variation on this lottery would be to pick 100 from each state at random and if there are no errors on the return, the taxpayer is exempt from federal income tax that year.