So, I'm toying with the idea of starting a new 'hood, though I am nowhere near decided which 'hood I want to play. I want to do a few things differently in the new 'hood, if I ever actually get round to setting it up and playing it, and one of the things I want to change quite drastically is how I handle sims' finances in my game. I want to introduce or alter quite a few things. The main ones which I can think of are as follows, and I will come back and add anything else that I come up with.

1. Taxes. I currently don't have taxes in my game, and I want some! Income tax, anyway. I was thinking about doing it by adding up each household's (or sim's?) income each season and collecting a percentage of it in tax. I would probably have a "personal allowance" so that sims could earn a bit of money without paying income tax, and the percentage would vary based on the income (using a tax bands system vaguely like we have here in the UK). I would have to track a lot of stuff by hand, but I do that anyway for other aspects of the game, so I think I'd be up for it! I was also considering some kind of property tax, to be paid each season to the local council, based on how much the property was worth. I don't really know what percentages/tax bands/property tax bands to use, though.

2. Mortgages. I don't have mortgages in my game, either. But I'd like to! I would probably use Inge's mortgage shrubs to allow sims/couples to borrow up to a certain amount (based on their income/deposit) to use to buy a property (or to undertake renovations/extensions on a property). Sims would have to pay a small amount of interest per season, which I would track by hand, and could pay off the mortgage bit by bit by gradually selling off all of the shrubs. And, obviously, if they didn't pay off the mortgage before selling the property the "bank" would get the money back from the proceeds of the sale. Again, I have no idea what figures to use to decide how much sims can borrow, or how much interest to charge.

3. Loans. I am thinking about different types of loans here. I would do normal loans using Monique's computer, so that interest would be very high and they would be pretty undesirable - something which sims would only really use in emergencies, like having no money available to pay the nanny or to buy groceries. Sims/couples would only be able to borrow a relatively small amount, possibly around up to their daily income multiplied by four. There would also be student loans, which would be available to pay tuition fees and for living expenses whilst at college/university. Sims would be eligible for a tuition fee loan to pay the entirety of their college tuition fees ($5,000 in my game) or up to $5,000 of their university tuition fees (which cost $20,000 in my game). Sims would be able to get a small loan each semester (there are four semesters in my game) for living expenses, probably around $500 - $750. So the maximum loan would be either $7,000 or $8,000. Both the tuition fee loan and the living expenses loans would become payable upon graduation, but interest would be low (or non-existent - not sure yet!). I would prevent sims from receiving the payments that they get after each final exam (has anyone modded them out?), so they would be likely to need the living expenses loans unless they were living with relatives.

4. Scholarships. I would scrap most scholarships, with the exception of the scholarship for orphaned sims. Sims from a less well off background may be eligible for a small scholarship for a combination of good grades, extremely good job performance and/or excelling in one or more skills. Things like grades, skills, teen jobs and so on would be a factor in whether or not someone would be accepted into college/university, rather than a way to gain money to spend whilst at college/university.

So, I would love to read about how everyone else handles taxes, mortgages, loans and other financial stuff in their games! How do you play sims' finances? Do you use mods? Which mods do you use? Do you keep track of stuff by hand? What? How? Why?! I do like to read about other people's games..... :-)

Taxes - since I use Cyjon's Bigger Bills, I just pretend that the taxes and such are included in that. My Orphanage and Gravekeeper household (as well as my homeless Sims, but they don't count) don't have to pay bills, because they're funded by the municipality. I use the Visitor Controller to ban the mailman.

Loans - I usually use Monique's computer. The interest is high, but it's added onto the bills so it's not quite as easy to ignore. Sometimes I use Cyjon's Loan Jar instead.

Scholarships - Aside from the college ones, Sims can invite the headmaster over to get approved for a scholarship to the private school. If they don't mind paying, they can just use the school changer. I used to use Monique's computer for this but it stopped working so I grabbed Pescado's mod instead and use the Money +200 command to refund it when it gets deducted.

Taxes - I don't do them anymore. I use to do income taxes after every 5 rounds, but it made all of my sims very poor. So, when the mayor needs some money, I just use familyfunds.

Mortgages/Rent - I use Monique's Payer notebook to take out loans/pay rent. In my Uberhood, rent is 10% + interest of the home cost. Mortgages are 3% + interest of the loan. Both are to be paid daily.

Loans - Sims may borrow money up to 2 times at any moment as long as: A). They're clear of any other loans. B). Don't have any past due bills. I use Monique's computer for this.

Child Support - Sims who are not living with their children will pay $10,000 per child, to the other parent, every round. I use Monique's computer for playable sims and Payer notebook for Townies (they need to pay too). I'll tell you, this is killing my sims pockets. Ten grand may not sound like a lot, but when a sim has 3 or 5 kids, it adds up. Darren Dreamer has three children and is over $100,000 in the rear. Ramiro Patel is -$84,000 with triplets as well. I haven't thought of a major consequence for sims who are so back in CS. On the flip side, single mother, Sally Riley has nearly 80 grand in her household funds, thanks to Child Support.

Taxes -- I had taxes in one hood, but I found them a nuisance to manage. They were paid weekly and based on family funds (only certain items were available, so they couldn't dodge their taxes by buying expensive stuff!), and very poor families with children might actually receive a refund if they had less than their allowances.

Mortgages -- The shrubs charge interest automatically, so you don't have to calculate anything. In Sheffield, mortgages are only available to parents who have a secure job (mostly to get them out of the two-bedroom apartments, as I usually have a waiting list for these in a hood with high unemployment), and allow them to get the cheapest two- or three-bedroom property, depending on how many kids they have. In other hoods, I use mortgage shrubs for poor tenant farmers; they're not expected ever to pay them off, and the interest acts as rent (it's taken automatically every morning, around 7 am I think; the one downside is that if you don't have enough funds, you don't pay - it won't take your family funds below zero or pop up a "Sim can't afford that" message).

Loans -- I've got a bit carried away with Cyjon's Loan Jar on occasion, so I'm having to scale back on all that irresponsible lending! In hoods where students have to pay to go to university, Sims can borrow up to 10k towards tuition and dorm fees. They keep the jar in inventory while they're at college, so no interest accrues until they graduate or drop out. Student loan interest is usually low, between 1-3%. Adult Sims who borrow money generally have the interest rate set inversely to their career level, so a Sim in an entry-level position will pay 9%, while a Sim at level 5 will pay 5%.

Scholarships -- I have the scholarships for badges mod, but otherwise play scholarships as they come. I generally don't instruct teens to do homework unless they roll a want for it, or unless they have a snow day, so they don't automatically get the Scholar's Award; the same goes for skilling - it's all down to the Sim's own choice. The only other form of 'scholarship' I have is that the military will pay the fees for some Sims.

Other finances -- Unemployed Sims in Sheffield can claim welfare benefits of $300 a week per elder, $200 per adult, and $100 per child, plus a one-off Crib Allowance of $500 for the first child ($1000 if they have twins). If they're living in rented accommodation, they can also claim $1000 per bedroom (assessed need, not actual number of rooms, so they can crowd together to save money or get a bigger place and pay the difference out of their savings). Sims on low incomes can also claim a pro-rated amount. Except for the Crib Allowance, which is paid when the first child is born, all benefits are paid on Sunday nights. If a family has to move mid-week because of a baby arriving, they get a half-week's allowance before they move.

perhaps your child support is a bit harsh?

Taxes--Don't use them. Too much number crunching for my taste.
Mortgages--I use Inge's shrub..useful to have something to deduct excess money with!
Loans--I usually use a combination of the Loan Jar or Monique's payer mod,if it's a personal loan-at standard interest rates.
Child Support--Monique's, of course. There's really nothing better for a mod. She did a good job on this..
Scholarships--Because all YA's going to college live at home now, they don't use those. Parents must come up with the funds to send their children, or else apply for a loan to cover it. The cost is $20,000 for 4 years (8 semesters) and is required to be paid up front at the time of matriculation. That's per child, mind you...
Other:
Alimony--that is one that is rarely done, but I use the payer mod set at a daily amount for certain people who got divorced and they have no other income.
Welfare--when a pixel is unemployed, and has no great desire (but bills to pay) to work, I use the welfare table for them to live on welfare benefits. The size of their check is dependent on their skills.
Credit Cards--I do have KatyPC's credit cards, and they're worse than the real life ones-but for a real emergency they're useful. The real problem with them is that they charge usurious amounts per thousand borrowed..not a good idea.

@monjit1 May I ask how long a round is in your game? Because 10k sounds like an awful lot of money to me. I play weeklong rotations and I don't think I have many Sims who could afford to pay that much per week...

It is a bit excessive, to be precise. Monique's child support is a standard $200 per child, per day. After a week, it can total about $1400 for one child. No wonder Randy London has to work so hard-he's got 4 children to support.

I do believe that teens don't get any because they're capable of getting a job, thus semi-self sufficient.

Did you edit it? Because on the page it says:



http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=163933

As for the original question: it does not

However, I use Pescado's money order to pay other Sims when necessary, including child maintenance in case of single/divorced parents.

Taxes: I have taxes in most of my neighborhoods - they are collected/held by one family and used to pay for community lots that I don't want run as a business and used mostly to build and maintain community lots. They may also be used to give payments to certain sims. I play seasonal rotations, so taxes are seasonal. For income taxes, I just make a note of the family funds at the start of the rotation after I've made needed purchases/building. I'll note any spending my sims do during the season, and then calculate the tax owed bases on family funds at the end of the season. Then I'll make any other expenditures before leaving the lot - most use of the buy/build catalogs happens outside the window where I'm tracking earned income, so most expenditures noted during the week happen when my sims visit community lots. Depending on the family, I normally use either Monique's computer or SW's chequebook to send money to the mayor/town manager, but in my medieval 'hood I summon the collector to the lot and he's either given coins (Almighty Hat's non-depreciating coins) or goods made by the sim.

For property tax, I total the value of the house and owned community lots at the end of season 4 - tax is payable by the end of the next season 2.

As for tax rates, it depends on the 'hood. My modern 'hoods normally have tax brackets, with a personal exemption so that nobody pays tax on the first amount earned (in a season, usually $1000). After that, income tax is 10% for most of my sims - tax brackets based on income beyond that got too hard to track. For property tax, I do use different brackets - the first $10 000 of property is tax-exempt, the next $25000 taxed at 10%.... I experiment with the brackets and the tax rates until it works for the town, and sometimes it needs adjusting as the town grows. I use taxes to keep my sims from getting too much money, but I also don't want them all to be in debt to pay their bills. My medieval hood has taxes based on social class, with sims paying tax to both their local lord and to the crown; peasants have a higher tax rate than merchants, who pay a higher rate than the nobles.

I've also done taxes/fees based on the number of sims in the house and on their net worth (all property values plus family funds). I found this a bit easier to track than income taxes and sometimes use it instead of income tax. At the start of each season, I'd assess the net worth of each household and place the sim into one of four wealth levels (wealthy, upper and lower middle class, and poor), and each level had a different fee per sim, with infants, toddlers, and elders receiving a discount. Again, the amount of the fees changes based on the neighbourhood; so poor sims might pay between $0 and $500 per sim, while wealthy sims pay between $1000 and $3000/sim.

I change how I'm doing taxes for different of reasons - I like to experiment, I get tired of doing the same thing all the time, and the needs of my neighbourhoods change. In my modern 'hood, changes to the tax rate or tax system also happen when my town changes it's government. Government spending priorities may change and affect the amount of money my mayor needs to collect, as will changes to fees my sims pay aside from taxes (tuition, service fees for fire/medical/police, licenses for marriage/pets/businesses, community lot visits to municipal lots, fines...).

Mortgages: I use the mortgage shrubs and remember to account for them when figuring out the value of the lot - I base the property tax on the value the lot would be without the shrubs.

Loans: Most loans are mortgages, but I've had a couple of households use Monique's computer.

Scholarships: I keep them as I charge my university students fees for tuition and use the no-20k-handout mod. The money for scholarships and the Dean's list awards normally aren't enough to pay the entire fee, but if they work hard at least my students don't go too far into debt. My university fees vary based on the 'hood and the number of universities I've got - the second one added usually has higher fees and two falls to represent smaller class sizes and better instruction.

I am watching this thread with great interest as I, too, wish to set up some sort of economic base in my game. Right now, I have 30 Sims in 10 households -- no townies, no stores, no "cash" type money. My Sims barter. "I'll give you 10 baskets of bananas for 10 bundles of firewood," or "I'll give you 3 deer and 3 bundles of firewood for a bed." After a tough first winter, those with greater harvests will donate to a food bank for those who are struggling. In the next day or two, the island population will double, and the Sims will get the idea to create an island currency. Food bank items will be converted to simoleons that will go in the local government coffers.

I did not want my island mayor to mingle household funds with government treasury funds. So, I created a mostly non-playable character to serve as a government entity -- the treasury. Any taxes, fees or penalties will be paid to the Shipwreck Island Treasurer. I named this "entity" Shipwreck Treasurer and gave him a prisoner token so he does not mingle with the island residents. His only job is to collect simoleons, pay for government improvements (parks & such) and possibly distribute cash aid. (I've not yet decided on that last part)

1- I am unsure how my tax system will work. Income-based would require a lot of work. I am not up to tracking every banana, papaya or basket of fruit or hunted deer sold. Taxing the simoleons in their account would mean that money gets taxed and retaxed and re-retaxed, which is not fair to the thrifty saver Sims. On the other hand, basing a tax on property value alone (not counting cash) would penalize those Sims who do home improvements. So, as you can tell, I am stumped. However, I do know that my Sims will get a tax break for the first couple of children, but they will also be penalized for having too many.

2/3- I've used mortgage shrubs. I never noticed the interest charged. Does it get added onto the household bills that come in the mail? One of the things I don't like about the shrubs is that they must be paid off in bulk increments of $1,000 or $10,000. I plan to give Cyjon's loan jar a try. I have not yet decided which entity (government, bank, individual) if any, will benefit / take risk from providing the original loan.

4- My island currently has no school -- not for children or young adults. I plan to make education for children a privilege that parents pay for. My game is modern day, but circumstances have forced them to think from an old world viewpoint, where children need to contribute to the family's survival or perhaps learn a family trade instead of getting a "proper" education. So, no need for scholarships at the moment unless a rich Sim wants to help a poor family send a child to school--and that will be on a case by case basis.

have not downloaded (or created) any tax/mortgage/loan mod.
closest thing to different prices in my game might be insimenator and/or sim manipulator.
change household money mainly through money cheats.

scholarships; did change the amounts college residents get from grades.

My rounds are only two days and yes, I know my Child Support fee is WAY over the top. To be honest, none of my sims can afford to pay it. But, that's what makes it fun for me.

At the moment, there isn't much in the way of a financial system. I will re-introduce one when I'm ready.

My tax system used to be based on class, then on a combination of class and/or living location. The particulars have varied, from a ruler who insisted on a regressive system on purpose to concentrate power in the hands of their already-powerful friends (the highest non-exempt class, Nobles, paid a flat fee of $100/day, and the lowest non-outlawed class, Peasants, paid a flat fee of $300/day...) to a progressive system based on a percentage of cash in hand (which varied from $0 in the anarchy - no government, no taxes - to $400/day to the upper class in the wealthy democracy). In all cases, these were paid via Monique's computer, a modded chequebook or barter (itself a sign of status because many Sims couldn't afford the computer, and really poor Sims had to use barter). In all systems, the taxes were paid to the High Ruler or a member of their household, and the Planning Council was exempt. All three methods would be allowed when taxes return, the High Ruler would continue to get the tax and the Planning Council would continue its historic exemption. However, the current High Ruler has stated that there should be no taxes until SimHampton's situation is a bit more stable.

Nobody has ever had a mortgage in SimHampton. All houses have to be bought with cash on hand, otherwise it's flat or house-share only. One of my Sims recently had to move into Leonard Pascoe's family home after being obliged to move out of their flat with virtually no money due to breaking the landlord's rules...

Regular loans occasionally happened in the past, but only in the most cautious of circumstances, since applications were limited to 10% of lot value and as a result were invariably paid back quickly, even by fairly poor Sims.

Student loans have never been a thing in SimHampton, though SimHampton University charges termly fees that sometimes result in the entire semester award being sent straight to the bursar's office (and the student needing to raise more money, if not planning financially well enough - any student not paying in full within 12 hours of a semester exam is expelled without appeal). All scholarships were retained because students tended to find them useful for paying the university/dorm fees or house rentals. SimHampton has either charged a flat fee of $250 per semester, or a stepped fee based on class (when that was in place, Royals got in free because SimHampton University is technically the property of its High Ruler, Nobles were charged $100/semester, Middle-class students $250 per semester and the occasional lower-class Sim was allowed in at a charge of $500 per semester, provided they followed certain stringent conditions about making social connections. Regressive fees much?)

One type of loan I found interesting was the national loan. Back when I was trying to play the Nations Challenge, I had a SimHampton International Bank that made loans at fairly low interest to interested nations. In the rules I had, the interest could be paid back in either money or government Action Points - which I thought of as political favours. An impoverished nation could ask for assistance from other nations to pay its interest for it (which cost both nations some Action Points and the donor nation the relevant amount of money), in return for improving the relationship. Not applicable now, since there are currently no "nations" in my game to get such loans.

Child Support - I think I have a version of it in my game that pays $200 out to an "abandoned" parent, though I never pay attention to it as it's a mod that basically sorts it all out without notifying me. I can't even remember what mod it is, so discreetly successfil is it at its job, but I'm happy it's there.

I don't do taxes or mortgages, too much counting. But I use a bigger bills mod and Cyjon's Loan Jar with a current interest of 9%, next to halved wages. My Sims are never gonna be rich .

So how these sims pay if they have below 10§ and what are the consequence when they have don't enough to pay?

I would like to ad some mods to my game!
can you guys put some links up to your mods that you use?
i like the way the Mortgages, child support, money order, and credit cards sound oh and scholarships!
thanks in advance to anyone that will post the links!

1. Taxes – I intended to implement taxes at one point. That’s the whole reason I made my income spreadsheet. I wanted to get an idea of how much Sims actually earn weekly, so that I could set up appropriate tax brackets. But in the end I prefer to make their lives more expensive, than implement tax. I move my Sims a lot during their lifetime, most 3-4 times minimum, and I’ve made a whole lot of things more expensive, so they already struggle to keep up. If anyone gets too much money, I open another business, or make them move houses. So I guess you could say my taxes are that wealthy Sims are forced to get rid of their money one way or another.

2/3 Mortgages/Loans – I combined these two because I use the same method. I have a modded version of the loan jar that gives me more control over when interest is added, which is what I use for loans and mortgages. Depending on what the Sims are going to use the money for, they get different rates of interest, both interest % and how frequently it gets added. I’ve made the jar recolorable, and made recolors that changes the icon on the piece of paper, to help me remember what kind of loan it is.

4. University is expensive in my game, so I let my Sims keep their scholarships. However I only actively make them get scholarships if I feel they need it, or are the kind of Sim that would care to get them (fortune/knowledge Sims mainly). Most students only have a couple of scholarships. But given that university costs 28,000-80,000 I figure they need all the money they can get, so I don’t mind them getting some money for their troubles. Oh and I use the mod that adds scholarships for badges, because I think it makes sense.

Aside from university my Sims also pay more for bills and NPC services. Bills are raised by 300% in both private residences and apartments. The cheaper university cost is for Sims who live in main hood or in apartments at campus, because in the end it’s more expensive for them. They have to pay their bills, and whatever their housing costs. Sims who choose to live in a dorm or in a private residence pays more for going to uni, but in return their housing costs are covered by their tuition (I delete bills with force error).

NPC services I used a modified version of Amura’s mod. I made butlers more costly, and nannies are cheaper. While I’m all about things costing money, the nanny charge made it so that unless you were 6+ in your career (with some exceptions) you lost money for going to work, rather than earn, if you were a single parent. That felt very elitist. Single parents should still have a chance to make a living, so I made nannies cheaper so that they too could afford going to work. If there is a known other parent they pay child support (Monique’s mod), but either way I felt nanny should be cheaper.

Adoptions are more expensive. I make Sims pay 5000 when they adopt, using Monique’s computer. The government runs the orphanage, which costs them money, so the fee is to help pay costs for that. Since there are no taxes, the government has to bring in money somehow.

Most of my economy-related things are automatically handled by mods. University costs I handle manually, in the sense that I keep track of how much they need to pay in my economy spreadsheet. I use Monique’s computer to pay. If they can’t pay for it while in Uni, they pay a small fee for post-poning. They have a year (four seasons) from the day they graduate to pay, after that University charges interest. When it reaches that point I revert to loan jar. I either get the education minister to prepare the loan jar and gift it to the student, or the student gets it and sends the money to the minister. Then they just keep the loan jar on their lot and pay when interest gets added. They have to pay off the interest, but it’s their choice if they want to pay off the loan. Most don’t, because just like real life interest is lower than it is for other kinds of loans, so it makes more sense to keep that loan for last. Sims are allowed to use Monique’s computer to save money, so some of them save up so the interest on their savings allows them to pay off interest on university loan without actually affecting their economy.

I’ve also fixed a lot of the CC in my game so that the costs are correct (or even extra expensive). I’ve modded some other things to be more expensive, but since it’s not released and won’t be for quite some time I figure I won’t mention what exactly. My modified loan jar isn’t released either, but I’ve already mentioned that one in the past so no point keeping it secret.

Taxes - I find that 10% tax on income and 5% tax property hits the sweet spot of reducing wealth but not crippling the poor. There's environmental taxes on cars, but you can get rebates for environmental schemes like solar panels and recycling. There are small refunds if you have elders, children or teens or babies in the house. My Simnation also taxes Townies using Christianlov's census statute. Think they pay $1,000 per person. Taxes are payable on the first of every season, there is a one season grace period for new inhabitants. Taxes are calculated by self-declaration. Any sim found hiding money in their money purse (loan jar) or dealing in offshore illegal loans via moniques computer will be (maybe) caught and set to jail. First payment must be made by cheque after a interview with the local bank manager to fill out the necessary paperwork.

Scholarships - Haven't set them up properly, and not sure if I will. However to get into private school you need at least £5,000 in the bank just to make the call. Not yet applied a way to collect this yet because first I need a proper working private school. Government schools are free. Hope in the future to set up technical colleges which you attend without going to university. These will have to be paid.

Clubs - There are also standing fees for membership of all types of clubs and associations. For a limited time you can buy your way onto the city council for the cheap price of £1,000. (All usual limitations, rules, patronages apply)

Loans and Mortgages - These are all obtained from the local bank manager, and for new customers an interview is needed. Citizens can however barter between themselves using money,goods, or services. They are allowed to finance private loans between themselves for any agreed interest.

City Beautification Projects - All funds collected will be reinvested back into providing services for the city. Generous rich benefactors are encouraged to donate money in return for everlasting monuments around Simnation. (streets, buildings, Portraits etc)

There are no taxes in my game beyond Maxis twice weekly bills. These are deemed to include an element of property tax. Vested interests in our society are strongly opposed to any increase in taxation. Consort Capp maintains that the bills he has to pay for Capp Manor are already ruinous. He says where you have taxation today, you have Bolshevism tomorrow. He and his class are familiar with the concept of noblesse oblige: there is no need for taxation where you have good old-fashioned paternalistic charity; the Capp Charitable Foundation for the Assistance of the Deserving Poor of Veronaville and its Environs will ensure that no deserving Sim ever starves in the neighbourhood. Maybe he has a point: no Sim in my game has ever died of starvation.

I'm afraid I'm quite passionate on the subject of university fees: may the Grim Reaper take me before I ever charge my Sim students tuition fees! I benefitted from free university education in my country in the 1980s. While less than I was previously earning, by modern standards my maintenance grant was positively generous. I enjoyed the experience immensely, both educationally and socially, and the YAs in my game must get nothing less. To me, modern real life students are like Sims caught up in a game run by a cruel vampiric Simmer, determined to squeeze the last drop of blood out of them! (Sorry for the rant!)

Loans in my game are essentially arrangements between Sims. I can only think of two examples, and both are business loans to give a relatively poor Sim the working capital necessary needed to start a small business. Consort Capp lent Scott Moore §15,000 to start his grocery shop in Poet Place. I don't see Consort as a loan shark, but he is a businessman. He expects to get at least §18,000 back -- more, if Scott is excessively slow in repaying. (I left it vague because I really couldn't be bothered to work out terms and interest rates.) More recently Julian Moltke lent Miriam Hunter §1,000 to buy a hairdressing chair to start a little home business in Bluewater. Julian is very easy going, and Miriam is a sort-of family friend (Julian's younger brother and sister are friends with Miriam's children). I think Julian will be more than happy if he just gets his money back. The constitution of the Capp Charitable Foundation for the Assistance of the Deserving Poor of Veronaville and its Environs allows it to make loans as well as grants to deserving beneficiaries, although no such loans have been made yet. Such charitable loans would either be interest-free or at a low nominal rate of interest.

I'm really not interested in making the game harder by making my Sims poorer. It's probably a matter of playstyle, but I've never had the problem of families growing too rich through normal gameplay. Far more often they can't buy something I want them to have because they haven't got the money. Since no Sim has ever died in my game, no one has ever got an inheritance! And I really don't push Sims to get more promotions once they have enough to live on. (Going clubbing is more fun! ) In fact my only rich Sims are either pre-mades, that Maxis made rich (e.g. Consort Capp) or Sims where, for story or other reasons, I've used money cheats to make them rich. I like having some richer families in my game, because (i) I think it's more realistic to have some rich people in a society, and (ii) the richer Sims can provide the capital to start businesses. I've never claimed to be an integrated 'hood player, but actually I think that's a good piece of integrated neighbourhood play. When a Sim wants to start a business, the would-be entrepreneur doesn't use a loan jar or a hacked computer; he/she goes to see a Sim who does have money and discusses terms.

There are various mods available for transferring money between Sims. The one I use is christianlov's Wallet Token Controller.

I'm the reverse of the OP with scholarships. My university has a tuition of $20,000. The wealthy families just put $20,000 into their child's bank account before they move to college. I don't get scholarships for them. The families who can't afford $20,000, those teens earn scholarships. Some make up the difference with their family contributions. Some take out Monique computer loans.

I'm kind of adapting my methods right now, though. I have a few middle class families who I use Monique's computers to start college funds. The children or teens put money into their own bank account as the family can afford, and it accrues until they are going to university. Also, I used to pay off Monique's loans as soon as they got to college with their scholarship money, but now I think I'm going to let them gain interest until they're leaving college, so it's more of a financial hit. AKA real life in the US.

I haven't used mortgages for a long time, but I have Inge's shrub. I don't generally have sims living beyond their means. Maybe I'll use the $1000 one as a payday loan or something for the sims barely scraping by; they can't afford computers.

No taxes. I don't have an integrated hood. Maybe I should, some of these sims are too comfortable.

Sorry for bumping this, but I started a new hood that I'm doing finances with. This time i'm doing things a little bit different.

Taxes: Filed every 3 rounds. Is 20% of a household's net worth. Homes that receive Welfare are exempt. I don't need to make the poor any more poorer, eh?

School Fee: $300 per student, every round. 37% of the fees will go to the hood's teacher as her salary.

Child Support: I got scolded about this with my Uberhood child support fee. This time CS will only be 30% of a sim's total income.

Loans: Won't be fully implemented, until I find a banker that can loan out money. Adults and Elders, who isn't on Welfare, can borrow money for anything. However, there are income guidelines. If a Sim's income is between $1000 - $5000, they can borrow up to $15,000. Income between $6000 - $10000, can borrow up to $30,000. Income is higher than $10000, they can borrow up to $50,000. The interest rate is 9%.

Mortgages: Will be implemented at a later time.

Fines for Assault: Instead of having a prison system (I'm too lazy to setup one.), I'm just going to fined my sims for bad behavior.
Knocking over Trashcan: $2000 per time.
Fighting (including just slapping): $5,000 per time. If a public official is assaulted, the fine is multiplied by 3. Only the instigator will be charged. The other sim is just defending themselves.

That's it for now. I'm using Excel and IrFanView to help me keep track of income, bills, loans, fees, etc.

1. While I've only done taxes in one hood, I set up "tax bands" based on the old UK system myself using the spreadsheet that documented everything about them anyway. However, I did it purely by their net worth at the end of each rotation, as keeping track of each working sim's income would've been ridiculous (in my eyes anyway) for a week at a time. If I played a single day per rotation it might've been possible, but I wasn't.
Anyway, I set my taxes up as follows:
Up to §5k = tax-free allowance
Between §5k and §50k = monies over the 5k marker taxed at 10%
Between §50k and §150k = monies above the 50k marker taxed at 20% (I kept the figures round to make it easier!).
Above §150k = monies above the 150k marker taxed at 40%.
For the families in higher tax brackets, the previous allowance and brackets applied to that portion of their worth.

I also set up a benefits system using the cash collected to supplement the poorest sim families - if you had less than §5k, you were entitled to a weekly benefit of §1,000; those above the §5k marker but below §20k were entitled to a proportion of that based on their actual net worth (meaning that the benefit gradually tapered off as you gained net worth, dropping to zero when you hit the "magic 20k marker"). Needless to say, I became very familiar with "IF" statements when setting up the formulae to calculate it all!

2/3. Loans and mortgages are worked together - I use Inge's shrubs as I find the loan option on Monique's computer a bit too painful when it comes to interest rates. Yes, it comes off every day, but if the sims' income can cover it and gradually build up to the point where they can actually pay off the shrub itself, all is well. If not, well they're going to be in deep doo-doo just finding enough money to pay for food!

4. Scholarships? I use the ones that come with the game, but I added in the mod that gives scholarships for silver/gold talent badges as well. After all, the sim has spent a fair proportion of their child/teenhood earning it, so in my view it should get recognized.

1. I have not done taxes, my sims have all been way too poor. They simply paid for some things on a need to bases. Also tax means doing maths, blahurg.

2. I do mortgages with the shrub. Either small ones for sims moving house or larger ones for CAS sims who need to be living where they are living such as the fire fighters chefs family must live at the fire house. Richer sims who i think will pay it back quickly may take out larger mortgages.

3 Small loans with either monique's computer, starting to move that now to getting a loan directly from the bank with the payer loan book. Larger loans are with the loan jar.

4.Scholerships. All normal ones plus the badge ones. I do plan on making more needed for those wanting to go to UNI-not sure what you are asking for here.