Riley

If we had a functioning UBI already in place, the “job-loss-assistance” would be such a big deal for this crisis.

The 33% rate on income earners over $214,368 can be increased. It’s already pathetically low.

This is not quite true. The 33% is the federal tax. There is also another 15% to 20% tacked on for provincial tax. Most workers in this pay scale are paying a marginal tax rate of 50%. There is another Medium writer, Umair Haque, who had a great quote the wealthy should employ: “Half for me, half for everyone else.”

A wealth tax is likely to be an administrative nightmare. The wealthy are often shuffling assets and have shell companies to hide their yachts and mansions. And they have the bucks to hire top-notch lawyers. But tax their income at 50% for sure.

I would put the UBI tied to all three levels of government. If Toronto is more expensive to live in than Kamsack, let the taxpayers of Toronto pay for the higher of UBI in their city.

And in the longer term, we do need to shift people from expensive cities to lower cost towns.

A UBI should make taxes simpler to calculate. I hadn’t thought of that one before. Average workers with Grade 10 math should be able to do their own taxes.