Income gap

Many people understand that the wealth gap is increasing and feel that something should be done about it. This means to either lower the top or raise the bottom and the latter is easy to do with existing tax laws. It means raising the child tax credit which is currently at $2,000 per child and congress is currently considering an increase. The standard deduction for 2024 is $29,200 for filing joint. A family of four earning $62,000 will pay no federal income tax. Increase the tax credit to $4,000 per child and the family income can rise to $85,000 without paying any federal income tax. Another easy way to close the gap using existing tax law is to increase the earned income tax credit (EITC). Currently a married couple with a family income of $25,000 would get $6,600 EITC and a family earning $50,000 would get $2,000. These could be changed to any amount at any level. The easiest way to lower the top is to increase the top tax rate above the current 37% or add a surtax above a certain level. It would also be simple to remove the current limit on the amount of social security withholding that is taxed above the current $168,000.