An unconditional basic income should not be a support for those in need. We want to reverse the current principle according to which people first have to be in need in order to be entitled to assistance: A basic income to which everyone is entitled prevents people from falling into material hardship from the outset and gives everyone the chance to engage in self-determined activity. The fact that the wealthy and rich also receive the basic income is part of the core of our idea. However, this does not mean making the rich even better off financially with a basic income. If we as a society introduce a basic income, we must at the same time change the tax system to ensure financing. In doing so, we have to make people with high incomes pay. Those who receive high salaries, self-employment income, dividends, interest or rental income will have to pay far more taxes to the tax office than they collect in basic income and are thus net payers. Many financing models mean that wealthy people, although they also receive basic income, have less money in their accounts than today because of higher taxes.
If the basic income is available to all, no means test is required for its payment. If we wanted to offset the basic income against the tax liability and transfer it (in the form of a negative income tax) only to the net recipients, we would have to determine the total income beforehand. However, this can be higher or lower in the course of a month than assumed before the beginning of the month. The fact that in the event of an unforeseen increase in income, repayments may have to be made to the tax office is still the least of the problems. It can also happen that income unexpectedly fails to materialise – not an uncommon scenario, especially for small self-employed people. Those who need the money to cover running costs may not be able to wait until after the end of the month and then have to apply for an unscheduled payment at short notice to get through the financial bottleneck. However, these are precisely the situations we no longer want to see arise – not only because of the bureaucratic burden on individuals and the state, but also because existential worries hinder the development of initiative.
Having to fill out an application because of need for assistance not only ties up energy because it costs time immediately, but also because self-confidence often suffers as a result. Being a net recipient of a social system is perceived by many people today as a stigma. With the unconditional basic income, we want to contribute to overcoming this way of thinking: No one should have to „earn“ a dignified livelihood, and a contribution to the community can also take on completely different forms than the performance of gainful employment and the payment of taxes. If a basic income is only available to those who have little or no other income, it could easily take on the image of support for the needy. If, on the other hand, everyone really receives the basic income, including the rich, this can help us to perceive it as what it should be: A basic right that gives us all a basis for self-determined living and working.
Read more at Hamburger Netzwerk Grundeinkommen link (currently available in German only)