Issue 214 Work week my way November 26, 2013

Well we talked about a 30 hour work week yesterday, but how about an alternative. My idea is to keep the work week as it is, but have a workers income not taxed on the 31st hour. Interesting right?

The idea: People are desperate for money. Income has not kept pace with the economy in part due to governments’ monetary policies and market incentives which suppress many wages for low skilled workers. Part of that is due to Americas failing public education system which results in substandard reading, writing and math scores. As such skilled workers are higher in demand. So this is where my idea comes in. The economy may already be switching to a 30 hour work week, but people will be at a loss for the money they would have gotten if the traditional 40 hour work week was maintained. As such, let's not tax the worker on the 31st hour that they work. This would allow the worker to keep all the money they earn beyond the 30th hour. Who doesn't want more money in their pocket?

Possible benefits: The main benefits are that it incentives workers to work longer. If they work long enough then they get to keep much more of their income as they would not be taxed once they hit the 31st hour. It would help those individuals on the borderline of poverty by allowing them to keep more money rather than hand it over to the Federal government or even the State governments if they follow suit. It actually may enable some workers to get out of poverty especially if the mandated 30 hour work week goes into effect which mandates time and a half beyond that 30th hour. So a worker getting $8.50 an hour would get to keep the $15 an hour (if time and a half pay is applied) if they work beyond that 30th hour. Yes each $15 dollars you make on the 31st plus hours will be yours. The government will not be allowed to touch it at all. Of course, if the time and a half rule is not applied, then you would still get to keep that $8.50 an hour after that. Overall, more money stays with you in your bank account rather than going toward a government that may squander it.

Possible costs: A problem will occur with respect to filing for your income taxes. It may in fact make it a little more complex to file for taxes making it a bigger burden on individuals to file there taxes. A.K.A., it will be a bigger pain in the rear. Also, the government may loose too much revenue from this change, and result in a fiscal glut in the federal government. However, these issues are solvable thankfully with respect to cutting budgets and a revised and simpler tax system.

Conclusion: This is my idea and I want any and all critiques which may in fact help me develop it further which would allow it to possibly become more viable as an idea to be put in place. Overall, the intended goal is to keep money in the hands of the worker where it belongs and not the government that spends on useless things and on perks for themselves.