Tax Reform
This week my colleagues and I held a press conference to call attention to the grossly inequitable tax formula in our state. As a legislator, I hear many complaints about our high taxes, but most people seem to blame the “freeloaders” on the economic rung below them, rather than looking at what is really to blame.
The fact is, the poor and middle class pay between three and five times more in taxes than the uber-wealthy do. (This is, of course, proportional to income; in other words, wealthy residents pay more in aggregate numbers, but low-income families bear a far greater burden as a proportion of their income.) A new report from the Dept. of Revenue Services (DRS) called the Tax Incidence Report shows this clearly.
In doing these calculations, the DRS divided the state’s populations into deciles, or 10 equal sections. The chart (below) shows that the poorest 883,552 state residents, who make up the lowest decile, pay nearly 27% of their income as taxes. In comparison, the state’s wealthiest 478 individuals (who make up the highest income decile) pay just under 5 %.
That’s why I am a proud member of the Tax Equity Caucus of the General Assembly. I support a legislative proposal to add two new brackets — one for earners of $1 million or more; and one for $2 million or more — as well as a 4% Capital Gains surcharge on top earners. Until we make such reforms, the families least able to pay will continue to bear the greatest burden.
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