So, uh... here's a tax reform plan, in case I ever run for POTUS or some other office where I can propose tax reform.
[percentage on the left, income levels on the right]
[it's a marginal tax system, if that changes anyone's minds]
Some notes:
67% is at the lower end of the Laffer Curve's estimate for optimal highest tax rate for government revenues and for economic growth
No more Head of Household filing status. The primary goal is to shorten and simplify the tax code and HoH filing adds additional complexity
The long-term Capital Gains tax rates will be eliminated. Capital Gains will be included in "income" under what I'll call the "Single-stream Income Model", because the goal is, again, shortening and simplifying the tax code. The current system is an income-threshold-based flat tax system that tops out at $434,550 - 488,850 at 20%, which is not great for having the wealthiest people pay what society feels they should.
No more itemized deductions. Within every deduction sits a tax loophole waiting to be exploited. Everyone gets the Standard Deduction, which shall remain unchanged.
Tax credits, like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit can stick around. A Charitable Giving Tax Credit can be imposed and would be based on the percentage of income given to charity (e.g. $3,000 given to charity from a taxable income of $37,500 works out to 8% of income being given to charity, so a tax credit can be given to lower the tax footprint [$5,125] by 8% [$410], totaling a final tax footprint at $4,715).
A fully refundable tax credit of $1,000 can be implemented for a person being registered to vote in their state (to encourage people to be more engaged with the government that represents them)
EXCISE TAX CHANGES
Increase fuel taxes to $0.30 per gallon (both gasoline and diesel) to support the Highway Trust Fund (especially the Highway Account, which pays for building and maintaining highways) (current rates: $0.184 for gasoline and $0.244 for diesel)
Double the Tobacco tax and apply it to Cannabis sold, if Cannabis is ever decriminalized at the Federal level (one of the easiest ways to do this is to have Cannabis treated exactly like Tobacco [I am aware that they're not exactly the same, but for immediate implementation, this will have to do until we can get a proper regulatory framework in place]).
$0.01 per kWh of electricity consumed (with electric vehicles being the future of vehicles, this will eventually replace fuel excise taxes)
$0.01 per share on stock trades (It's an attempt to cut down on high-frequency trading and raise government revenues, albeit not by much. The actual rate of taxation can be changed later)
FICA TAX CHANGES
Increase FICA (Social Security) taxable maximum income to $200,000 from $132,900 and would be tied to CPI or the National Average Wage Index or whatever the SSA wants. Because Capital Gains income (dividends, rental income, etc.) are now included in "income" now in this Single-stream Income Model, they would also be taxed. Capital Gains income is currently excluded from FICA taxes
Slightly boost the tax rate to 6.25%/6.25%/12.5% from the current 6.2%/6.2%/12.4%
Increase the Hospital Insurance tax rate to 1.5%/1.5%/3.0% from the current 1.45%/1.45%/2.9%
CORPORATE TAX CHANGES
Impose a 10% income surcharge on companies with over 50 employees if the members of their executive board are paid more than 100x what the lowest paid employees are being paid (which will include stock options) (it will also include contractors hired by the company)
Impose a 1% Property Tax for a company's financial and physical assets (excluding goods they have manufactured and employees they have [but including the value of contracts they have with others {e.g. if Wells Fargo contracts out tech support to Microsoft, Wells Fargo would have to pay the tax on the contract, but Microsoft wouldn't}])
FINALE
Is it all bullshit? Is money just a social construct regarding our societal determination of evaluation and worth? Are taxes theft? Let me know what you're thinking and, uh... I'll get to some memes later
