The unit of redistribution is the money allocated towards it.

As an initial step, we need to establish a baseline of support. Let us suppose that our unit of redistribution is the amount of money it takes annually to support the subsistence needs of one person in a household living at the level of the national median. We can calculate the necessary amount in the roughest sense for illustrative purposes if we take US $43,000, the 2003 median income of a U.S. family,27 and, assuming the household is composed of four persons, divide that amount by four, yielding US $10,750. This sum becomes what can be called a redistribution unit—the basic annual income guaranteed to every person living in the United States. Though this figure can be adjusted or calculated anew when a proposal of this nature begins its trek toward becoming a law, the principle of providing an adequate income guarantee must be retained if we are to meet the general imperative of providing economic equality. Since every person will now have an income, and thus either filing an income tax form or being part of a household filing, we can assure that each person receives the total amount of the minimum guaranteed by raising the standard deduction to US$10,750, thus rendering the income tax-free. Tax refunds can serve as the device for delivering the guaranteed income. So that we do not re-create inequality by giving every person the same amount, and thereby providing well-off persons with an additional income subsidy, we need to assume that income above the minimum level is taxed progressively. This means that the federal government will tax higher incomes at higher rates, not simply as a means of financing government expenditures, but as a social policy designed to redistribute the national income more equally.