what usually constitutes the main source of a governments income?

Answer 1

TAXES AND LEVIES

Answer 2

main source is tax. But it is a widely known fact that it is usually not enough to cover for the PSBR (Public Spending Borrowing Requirement).

As already stated in some answers, some thirdworld countries rely on foreign financial aid, but this money is almost all the time spent on either corrupt officials or increasing the standards of the countries' infrastructure in the first place. Not even enough for them to survive in the long run if economic stability is not established, capital depreciation occurs and they will need the same financial aid just to keep up with the depreciation.

Another source are your government bonds (or treasury funds): more like shares that are non-private and the government sells to the people.The gov't will use the money to invest in a foreign or local industry, and the returns are shared by both the government and the shareholders. (Compared to private shares in the stock market, bonds usually have lower percentage returns but are more stable in the long run. Just an additional detail.) Furthermore, bonds are also used for implementation of fiscal and monetary policies, usually to control inflation rates.

Answer 3

Good God … I was going to answer “Taxation”, however I started researching the matter a bit more and have come to some very disturbing conclusions on where the government gets its money. I was watching a re-run of “South Park” when I noticed the secret message it was signaling to my brain … Mr. Hankey (Christmas Poo) … the key to the whole moneymaking machine behind the governments.

Indeed all-great ancient civilizations share one great common denominator …toilets/plumbing … The Egyptians had it … Greeks had it … Romans … even the Emperor of China had plumbing. All of these civilizations and societies unite “Big - Government” with “Toilets & Plumbing” … coincidently, these civilizations fall to ruins when the toilet systems are destroyed!!!

Goodness gracious … when we ran an economical statistical model to correlate “Big-Government” with “Toilets & Plumbing” we can to some very grave and disturbing conclusions.

Government takes the fecal matter and processes it with a chemical to generate revenue … this is a synthetic “Oil” blend … the government is now and always has been utilizing human waste to maintain the governments power and control … see this is why the successful USA has achieved world domination … It’s not through the wars … It’s not through the “Capitalistic” economy … It’s not through transportation … but it is run upon the amount and quality of fecal matter that the USA citizens create daily!!!

Liquidity in poop is lucrative. Focusing on the QUALITY of the urine is very important … this is why products like “Budweiser Beer” and “Coca-Cola” are mass distributed at low costs to the public … Against popular belief, these liquids do concentrate the best “Fuel Efficient” lubricant to carry the processed feces. Further, to create the ultimate feces that generate the most revenue to the governments is ingredients like “Taco Bell” and “McDonalds” … however, “Taco Bell” has more fiber and laxatives which create more smelly Bacteria produce compounds such as indole, skatole, and thiols (sulfur containing compounds), as well as the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide … consequently, the governments are striving to replace their citizens appetite for McDonalds with “Taco Bell” … even the third world countries are getting in on this cash cow. <1>

Energy from the human waste is now flushed down the toilet, and cultivated by the governments into the oil… Thomas Craper <2> was credited for inventing the “Flush Toilet” … however, the true secret he gave us was how to use the Flush Toilet to process human waste and generate $$$ … this is a very deep guarded secrete that still isn’t publish for fear that the discovery will cause governments (the whole global economy) to fail and we’d be back to living in the dark ages … It's not the "Oil Companies" who are getting rich today ... but the "Big Governments" that cultivate poop !*!*!*$$$!*!*!*!*

ahhhh … shhhh … be very-very quite!!! I think I heard a puddy-tat (government) … I did-I DID hear a puddy-tat … Shhhhhh … I don’t want to be kidnapped and taken to process poop.

Answer 4

Generally, governments raise funds via taxes. These taxes fund quite a lot - including public education, roads and public transportation, and law enforcement.

If a government has extra funds, it will issue loans and the interest from these loans is another major source of income.

Answer 5

Depends on the level of government you're talking about.

Feds- income taxes, social security taxes, medicare taxes, and then other miscellaneous taxes.... Tariffs are big too.

States- income taxes, sales taxes

Local govts- real estate/property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, fees/fines, and other miscellaneous sources.

Answer 6

Sales Taxes make up a large bulk of governments income, think about it how much of goods are sold to consumers every day not just once a year but every day.

Answer 7

taxes i assume. depends on the govt. Some 3rd world places probably rely on foriegn aid. Communist countries get money from the economy and actually pay taxes to the people. In China you get a scratch off when you eat dinner and you can win money. My boss calls it tax but often her translations aren't worth much.

Answer 8

while taxes do make up a good part lets not forget bonds, and remeber the Federal Reserve can create money out of thin air for he government by buying bonds from the treasury

Answer 9

Taxes.

Answer 10

It varies by country. If you lump all the different levels of government (Fed, State, County, City) into just one Government bucket, countries derive the vast majority of their government revenues from four different taxes: individual income tax, consumption based taxes, corporate income taxes, and property taxes.

In the U.S. by far the largest tax that accounts for 50% of all tax revenues is the individual income tax. Second, are the consumption based taxes (22.8%). Third, are property taxes (14.5%). And, last is corporate income tax (12.7%). Together, these amount to 100% of the U.S. Government tax revenues.

Japan has a very different tax mix (in order of importance): Consumption tax (31.8%), Individual income tax (29.6%), Corporate income tax (20.6%), and Property tax (18.0%).

So does France. It's tax mix is in order of importance: Consumption (48.3%), Individual income tax (24.7%), Property tax (20.3%), and Corporate income tax (6.7%).

Thus, while the U.S. Gov. relies mainly on the individual income tax, France relies mainly on consumption tax. And, Japan relies fairly equally on all four different type of taxes.

All these governments run chronic Budget Deficits. They finance these by issuing Government bonds. Poorer countries finance their Budget Deficit mainly by acception foreign aid from the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

I hope this answer your question. If you need clarifications, you are welcome to contact me through the Answer communication mechanism.

Answer 11

Depending on the government, taxes. Possibly imports, or, in ancient civilizations, spoils from war.