(01-03-2021 10:45 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  It’s too difficult to effectively evaluate who has been impacted significant during the pandemic by using previous years’ tax returns.

Not to mention a classic scenario for rent-seeking, as each group tries to lobby that it particularly "deserves" favorable treatment.

You're almost starting to think like a tax reformer!

(01-03-2021 10:45 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Just put in a stipulation about how anyone who makes over $X per year in 2020 will be taxed an extra $2,000 in 2021 to claw it back from high earners in 2020 that don’t need the assistance.

Is there a particular advantage in treating this income differently from other income? Since the payment is intended to replace people's ordinary earned income, it seems logical to treat it as ordinary earned income.

At any rate, that seems more sensible than a lump sum triggered by a step function.