Have you ever caught yourself wondering what would be one of the things I would do if I were king?
Well, wonder no more!
Now you, just like the fortunate residents of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, can learn how I would reform the federal tax system.
This priceless information is available to you -- FOR FREE! -- if you click on the link to the WHRV local-events talk show Hearsay With Kathy Lewis.
I was one of the listeners whose idea on big fixes for the U.S. economy was chosen for consideration by a prominent local economist. I come in at about the 23-minute mark. I haven't listened to myself except to make sure that I wasn't edited out. Counterarguments or kudos are welcome from anyone who gives the program a digital spin.
In a nutshell, my idea is to set a living-wage floor on what earnings are taxable (e.g., the first $40,000/year are untaxed) and then to only collect very small percentages of money earned above that floor in a graduated manner (e.g., 2 percent on $40,000 to $49,999, 4 percent on $50,000 to $59,999).
The top marginal rate would be 10 percent, and separate FICA witholdings would be eliminated. To replace revenues lost by not taxing the first dollar earned, there would be a 1 percent federal sales tax on all nonfood items. There would be no deductions or rebates/returns on federal taxes paid.
I'm flexible on the dollar amounts, marginal rates and a very small number of allowable deductions.
What's your big idea?
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