BENEFIT PRINCIPLE: A principle of taxation in which taxes are based on the benefits received by people using the good financed with the tax. The benefit principle is often difficult to implement because by their very nature, many government produced goods (public goods) do not have easily measured benefits. But in those cases where benefits are identifiable, government is not shy about establishing taxes, fees, or charges in accordance with the benefit principle. Public college tuition, national park admission fees, and gasoline excise taxes are three common examples. The beneficiaries of education, a wilderness experience, and highway use are asked (required) to pay accordingly.

     See also | principle | taxes | government | public good | excise tax | user charge | ability-to-pay principle |

BENEFIT PRINCIPLE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 9, 2025].

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Household consumption expenditures that depend on income or production (especially disposable income, national income, or even gross domestic product). That is, changes in income induce changes in consumption. Induced consumption captures the fundamental psychological law put forth by John Maynard Keynes. It is measured by the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) and is reflected by the positive slope of consumption line. The alternative to induced consumption is autonomous consumption, which does not depend on income.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a dollar discount store trying to buy either a birthday greeting card for your father or a T-shirt commemorating the first day of spring. Be on the lookout for spoiled cheese hiding under your bed hatching conspiracies against humanity.
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