General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSoaking the Poor, State by State
You have heard, perhaps, that rich people in America are egregiously overtaxed. And the poor? They're the lucky duckies! Why, 47 percent of Americans pay no taxes at all!
(This is not true, of course. Many poor and elderly Americans pay no federal income tax, but they pay plenty of other taxes.)
Still and all, it's true that the federal income tax is indeed progressive. Conservatives are right about thatthough it's not as progressive as it used to be, back before top marginal rates were lowered and capital gains taxes were slashed in half. But conservatives are a little less excited to talk about other kinds of taxes. Payroll taxes aren't progressive, for example. In fact, they're actively regressive, with the poor and middle classes paying higher rates than the rich.
And then there are state taxes. Those include state income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and fees of various kinds. How progressive are state taxes?
Answer: They aren't. The Corporation for Enterprise Development recently released a scorecard for all 50 states, and it has boatloads of useful information. That includes overall tax rates, where data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that in the median state (Mississippi, as it turns out) the poorest 20 percent pay twice the tax rate of the top 1 percent. In the worst states, the poorest 20 percent pay five to six times the rate of the richest 1 percent. Lucky duckies indeed. There's not one single state with a tax system that's progressive. Check the table below to see how your state scores.
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/soaking-poor-state-state
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Overtaxing poor people at state level is just as despicable as at the national level.
Mopar151
(10,004 posts)The share of rent that goes to exorbitant local property taxes - which are particularly high in low income towns.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)ITEP being the ones who did the tax calculations by income for each state.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)but Brownback is working to change that, trying to make Kansas more like Texas.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)No wonder this country is falling apart.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)that some politicians can offer to solve our problems by - large tax cuts for the top 1%, and they are not tarred and feathered, run out of town on a rail, or laughed off of the stage for being idiots.
And yes, Governor Brownback, I am looking at you.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)This chart is worth keeping and sharing.
DCKit
(18,541 posts)Shocking.
surrealAmerican
(11,365 posts)... most states' reliance on sales taxes and fees, as opposed to income tax. It rely does put a disproportionate share of the burden on the people who can least afford it.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Thank you. K&R
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)Perhaps if you and I got into a fight.
I'll start.
Less filling!!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)Take that. All caps.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)than the rich. This needs to be seen on the news - maybe Big Ed or Rachel or KO if he ever gets back.
Answer: They aren't....
...claim that "47 percent of Americans pay no taxes at all" has been one of the most disgusting "look-over-there" lies pushed by greedy wealthy assholes.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)comparing the tax rate of the 21st-40th percentile
to
the 81st-95th percentile
for just a few states
California - 8.75% to 7.5%
Delaware - 6.0% to 5.2%
Kansas - 8.6% to 8.0%
Massachusetts - 10.1% to 7.7%
Wisconsin - 10.7% to 9.2%
Again, among even those progressive states, Kansas has the least regressive tax system, but they are ALL regressive - even when it comes to charging the lower middle class a higher tax rate than the upper middle class.