Dr. Robert Shapiro: A Fair and Winning Proposal for 2020 Democrats

Washington Monthly Reports: A Fair and Winning Proposal for 2020 Democrats

Democrats must pledge to cut taxes on everyone who works for a living and close the gap by raising taxes on people who live off their wealth.

There is a simple and direct way to do it: exempt the first $10,000 in wages or salaries from payroll taxes, and finance it by ending the tax preferences on capital gains and dividends that mainly benefit wealthy people. The result will be a system that finally applies progressive tax rates to both capital and labor income.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this $10,000 exemption would increase resources of working households by $986 to $1,216 per-year within the next 10 years. This is enough to cover the average Americans' monthly mortgage payment. This is $1,030, which includes taxes and insurance.

It would be equivalent to a 6.7 percent annual raise for working households in the lowest income quintile (up to $25,600) and annual raises of 3.2 percent, 2.1 percent, and 1.4 percent for those with incomes in the second, third, and fourth income quintiles, respectively.

Each and everyone of these costs could easily be covered by taxing the proceeds the wealthy get from their financial assets.

To read more about the implementation of this proposal, check it out here.