INDEX SOCIAL SECURITY FOR INFLATION

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993                   TAG: 9304150466
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
INDEX SOCIAL SECURITY FOR INFLATION
REGARDING President Clinton's new tax proposals, the following points should be emphasized:
Under the tax legislation passed in 1984, all wage and salary income was indexed for inflation with respect to tax obligations.
By some presumably rational process, $32,000 was set as the level at which Social Security payments to couples become taxable. This income level, unlike wages and salaries, was not indexed.
We have had a 30 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index between 1985 and 1992. If $32,000 was a reasonable standard in 1985, the "fair" threshold figure for 1993 is about $41,600.
Therefore, the 1993 level at which Social Security payments to couples becomes taxable should be changed to about S41,600 and tax legislation should be changed to require indexing this income level, as is done with wages and salaries. This is only equitable, as the cost of living is rising while current tax legislation holds income exemption at 1984 levels.
If Congress does not remedy this inequity, senior citizens will pay unfair taxes while on a fixed income and unable to work, resulting in suffering and hardship for some of our most vulnerable citizens. JOE CHADWELL JR. SALEM

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB