Existing systems allow effective implementation.

Barring a new digital income reporting infrastructure, there still exist feasible options. First, as economists of all stripes agree, from Milton Friedman to Thomas Piketty, the ideal place to provide NIT benefits and tax adjustments is directly on one’s paycheck. In the same way that each paycheck lists federal tax deductions, it can list one’s NIT benefits (and tax contributions) applied to that very check. But this method may grow more difficult as work itself evolves, and the ways in which we earn income transition from single-employer careers to kaleidoscopic, diversified models.

If the evolution of work prevents paychecks from providing the bulk of NIT calculations, we can still adopt an income declaration system using existing platforms. In the same way that unemployment recipients must actively “claim” weekly benefits, receiving monthly NIT could depend on actively reporting one’s income to the NIT administering agency, such as the IRS. In the same way as above, we can adjust for any discrepancies when we do our annual taxes, using fines and penalties to discourage exploitation.

Requiring recipients to actively report their incomes also builds in a frictionless ‘opting-out’ method for all those who don’t expect to receive any NIT benefit. Someone earning $200,000 annually, well over the breakeven point, would be required to take no action. By default, no one receives NIT. So only those who expect to receive payments would ‘opt-in’ by self-reporting their income. This naturally reduces the bureaucratic load.