Are people allowed to pay more taxes than asked for? How would someone go about asking for permission to do so?

There are people that would do that??

@ANef_is_Enuf What little I have I am willing to give… just keep enough to pay my bills for the month. Maybe more are possible?... I would love to be paid back later… If don’t want to see my country fail; then maybe others can belive similar?

Somehow I doubt that it can be done. That’s just a guess, though.
You are a better American than I.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I heard that if every government program was completely cut, and the tax rate increased to 100% across the board, it would still be impossible for us to escape our debt for hundreds of years.

That said, I remember there being a paypal link where you could donate to the government. If I find it, I’ll send it to you.

You can go to your employer and have your withholdings adjusted to pay in more on the form W-4. Although you may end up getting it back when you file. It’s a nice gesture but save your money. It won’t amount to anything good, and chances are it will be wasted by the govt anyway. It could be a ploy to shame billionaires to to follow suit if you could somehow publicize it, but remember, billionaires have no shame. Save your money,

@woodcutter speaks truth.

Is buying federal bonds the same as giving money?

That might be a better way to do what you want. I don’t know how long a bond takes to mature, maybe someone here can give the straight skinny on that.

Bonds are more like loaning than giving. They pay a return and mature in different periods depending on what you’re buying.

There’s actually a government website that sells them (even though it doesn’t look like a government website)

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/

As for the original question, you can donate at the same site it seems to reduce the debt directly. It looks like they’ve gotten about $2 million so far this year.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift.htm

2 million is but a drop in the ocean but I suppose it’s the thought that counts. But the year isn’t over yet so i suppose there’s still hope.

This site http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2011/opds062011.pdf makes it seem that If I buy some bonds it will just add more debt to the government as it would have to be repaid and would be effected by the limits to the debt ceiling.

Bonds are debt and are a good example of what “the debt” is made up of.

The government takes money with the promise to pay it back. Just like you would at a bank or using a credit card. In exchange they pay a rate of return (interest) on that money. To the people doing the lending, it’s an investment. They then use that money to pay for all the snazzy stuff the government provides.

Because the government has always been so secure and always able to pay it’s debts, that interest/return rate is very low because the chances of them not paying it back is very low. There’s no risk.

If it starts to look like a possibility that the government wouldn’t be able to pay the debt back (this is what you hear called “defaulting”) then they have to pay a higher rate of return to make those investments attractive again. When you hear people on the news talking about lowering the US debt rating, that means professionals that look at these sorts of things have decided there’s a higher chance that the US government won’t pay back their debts. This is mainly due to the amount of debt right now compared to the amount of tax income the government will have.

That worries people because whether you know it or not you probably own some of the US’s debt, and your hoping for a return on that money they borrowed. So does your city, your retirement account, your bank, etc…

This page shows the total broken down by who holds the debt, which means who gave the government of the US money with the expectation of it being paid back. Click the link at the top labeled “Debt Held by the Public” and they go into who actually put that $9 trillion dollars into the government.

The problem isn’t that the US has debt, the problem is that people are starting to get worried that the debt won’t be paid back. It’s like the government’s credit rating has taken a hit.

If that happens it makes it harder to borrow well into the future, even after the current “crisis” is worked out.

Better wait and see if congress is going to cause a meltdown before sending any money in.

All you have to do is write out a check or money order and send it here:

Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

Note this is not a tax deductible donation.

in canada you can…. you just fill request your employer to take out more than required