I think the idea is something like this: UBI replaces the standard deduction, or something like that. Everyone pays tax, at either flat or progressive rates, b

I think the idea is something like this: UBI replaces the standard deduction, or something like that. Everyone pays tax, at either flat or progressive rates, but with the base tax on $0 income being -$10,000/person. So if you hypothetically imagine a 20% flat tax (not a realistic number!), then once you're making $50,000 a year, you're breaking even. At that point, UBI is nominally costing the government $10,000/American/year, but most of that is an accounting fiction--it's just equivalent to not taxing that person as much as you would've in an alternate scenario. Now, I don't know how this works for Wilderquist's example, since I doubt that simulation has UBI replacing all other taxes/deductions.