At first glance, it seems fair: you pay proportional to what you make. However, this does not take expenses into account. If I live in New Jersey the living wage for a two adults and two child, according to
http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu, is $33.00 an hour (or roughly $68,000 a year).
The living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support their family, if they are the sole provider and are working full-time (2080 hours per year).
If this family of four makes any less than that, they won't be able to afford one of the following categories:- Food
- Child Care
- Medical
- Housing
- Transportation
However, families of four making less 68,000 a year are still charged income tax. Every dollar of income tax makes this NJ family of four more unable to make ends meet. What's the point of taxing someone closer to poverty? Why should we tax people closer to needing government assistance? Why are we taking people on money that they don't have? I think I have a solution.
I think it is fair to say that someone making $68,000 in NJ isn't going to have any money in the bank because the cost of living is $68,000. After food, health care, housing, local and state taxes, etc they have nothing left to spare. Anyone making below this is in the red and this debt mounts every year, driving them closer to poverty. Therefore, it is my opinion that we should not tax the income of anyone making $68,000 or less in NJ. The living wage varies by city, so a person in Texas making $68,000 would still have to pay because the living wage is ~$52,000 a year. They should still be responsible to payroll, sales and property taxes because that is built into the living wage. Anything more to this is making anyone earning less than the living wage poorer and poorer every year. But what about the NJ wealthy?
Let's say a wealthy family of four lives in Hunterdon County, NJ. The cost of living is 72,000 a year. However, they make $500,000 a year. After subtracting the living wage (500,000-72,000) they have $422,000 in the bank. They should be taxed on that $422,000 that they have in the bank, not the $500,000 that they made. They have money left after paying expenses to pay the income tax. Their income tax won't put closer to poverty.
However, I don't think the families making below $68,000 should get off easy. For everyone making below the living wage, mandatory community service. This way, they contribute by making the country a better place for all to live and pay their debt to society without driving them into debt.
The whole idea behind this is taxing people who have money left to be taxed. We don't tax a business that lost money, why should we tax families going into debt. It's all about being fair and doing what you can.
