On the day when Americans are supposed to have mailed in their tax forms, CD13 Representative David Jolly announced new legislation that would give a tax cut to numerous citizens in California, New York and Hawaii automatically, as well as others throughout the country who for whatever reason, pay more than 50 percent of their total income in taxes (Much of that has to do with paying a state income tax, something that Floridians don't have to endure).
Calling it an “Alternative Maximum Tax”, or “MaxTax”, it would set a maximum total level of taxation that any one individual may be subject to by all governments combined — federal, state, municipalities, and other taxing authorities. That level would not go over 50 percent.
“This is a personal freedom issue. The amount of taxes that any one individual is responsible for providing to government collectively ultimately restricts the individual’s freedom to make their own decisions,” Jolly said in a press release. “We have easily identified over 40 different taxes that individuals are subjected to, each from different taxing authorities, yet there is no ombudsman looking out for the taxpayer to determine what is the appropriate level of total taxation any one person must be responsible for.”
According to the Tax Foundation, high-income earners currently in three states - New York, California and Hawaii- already pay more than 50 percent of their wage income in taxes, with the Golden State number one at 51.9 percent.
Jolly says he'll introduce the bill in the House of Representatives when they return back to Washington in 13 days. He says that if an individual's total taxes owed to the state and federal government exceeds 50 percent, the individual’s federal marginal income tax would be paid last. "The sum of all Social Security, Medicare, and non-federal income taxes would be determined first," he says.
Calling it a matter of "liberty," Jolly says, "While I believe the maximum level of individual taxation should be much lower than 50%, the draft legislation sets it at 50% because I believe Congress can swiftly enact such a measure. Who could possibly suggest that an individual should provide to government more than what that individual receives for themselves."
During the campaign for the CD13 seat this past winter, Jolly frequently talked about the need for the tax code to be re-written. Whether he'll get any oxygen from the plan from his fellow Republicans in the House is of course unknown at this time, but especially on April 15, it's not bad politics to argue that nobody should have to own more than half their income to the government.