Within my Windows host system, I setup a kali Linux VM (using Oracle VirtualBox). I started the sshd on kali but I cannot putty from the host to kali. Note: I can ping the host from kali but not vice versa. I suspect it was an issue with the firewall on kali so I followed the steps laid out in https://wiki.debian.org/iptables
Here is what the output of "iptables -L" returns:
Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination
ACCEPT tcp -- anywhereanywhere state NEW tcp dpt:ssh
ACCEPT icmp -- anywhereanywhere icmp echo-request

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Does it look like the firewall will allow port 22 (ssh) through? If so, any other suggestions?

Sorry, don't have time to check about the firewall, but a quick "other suggestions", or question: with which user do you try to connect ? If it's as root, it's possible the root is forbidden in your /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Anyway in case you missed it, you may also want to check the sshd configuration.

For the firewall, maybe someone "fluent" in IPTABLES can answer this more quickly and precisely.

Yor firewall doesn't block anything. Check the Virtualbox network configuration and the routing configuration on the host. What type of networking did you configure for the guest, what are the host's and guest's IP addresses, and the routing table on the host?