Of whatever amount one earns, a portion of it goes into paying income tax. So, if employees younger than 35 won’t have to pay tax, then why would their employer want to keep paying them just as much? Won’t they cut down their pay as well to boost their own earnings? After all, that would be a big boom for the employers, saving them a huge sum of money.
And given the fact that there is no dearth of young professionals in the market, now companies will be able to hire them at cheaper salaries compared to the ones above the age of 35 (who would have to continue to pay income taxes). This would lead to a rampant replacement of employees above the age of 35 across all sectors with ones who are younger.
This move would be a major disaster, both on the economic and demographic front. A chunk of our working population would be left with lesser incomes and fewer job opportunities. How do we expect them to be able to pay for their healthcare costs which only increase with age, bills and needs, education of their children (highly expensive in today’s times) and countless other expenses which would only rise as the economy grows, lifestyle factors evolve, and inflation increases. In a way, this would wreak havoc on the common man.
In the long run, this move suggested by the Congress is only going to increase the burden of social security over future governments and generations who would have to later pay heavier taxes to fend for the elderly and their health care and living expenses. Thus, from this perspective, such a policy would be a grave injustice to the future generations of citizens and governments.
So, how could this be a good idea at all. In this post, I have not even taken into account the fiscal and revenue void that such a policy would leave on the exchequer. The picture already looks grim to me. I hope such a differentiating and discriminatory policy based on one’s age never sees the light of the day. Because this is nothing but a populist political hook being used to attract as many young voters to vote for a particular political party.