“When you ask people what they think a fair tax code looks like, almost nobody says we should have the richest pay the least. And yet when we look around the country, the vast majority of states have tax systems that do just that. There’s an alarming gap here between what the public wants and what state lawmakers have delivered.”
The longread is at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Nationally, the average state levies an effective state and local tax rate of 11.3 percent for its lowest-income 20 percent of residents; 10.5 percent for the middle 20 percent; and 7.2 percent for the top 1 percent (see Figure 1). This means the top 1 percent are contributing 37 percent less of their incomes toward funding state and local services in their states than the poorest families.
States such as Florida, Tennessee, and Texas are often described as “low tax” due to their lack of personal income taxes. While this characterization holds true for high-income families, these states levy some of the nation’s highest tax rates on the poor. This is indicative of a broader pattern. Nationally, we find evidence that states with lower taxes for their highest-income earners tend to have higher taxes for their lowest-income residents.
The study itself was highly detailed and sophisticated. One can argue about the implications and justifications for various tax policies, but I think there's not arguing about the data itself.
“When you ask people what they think a fair tax code looks like, almost nobody says we should have the richest pay the least,” said Carl Davis, research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which conducted the analysis.“And yet when we look around the country, the vast majority of states have tax systems that do just that. There’s an alarming gap here between what the public wants and what state lawmakers have delivered.”
I don't know whether to be more disgusted with our politicians or the brain-dead population that elects and tolerates the sociopaths in office. I guess as long as there's junk food and iPhones aplenty it's all good.
ReplyDeleteWhat people fundamentally do not understand is that governments need money. And that they will get it. Left-around, right-around, whatever.
ReplyDeleteThings like having no income or sales tax are just gimmicks to crank up other taxes.
Despite claims of high or low taxes, states spend about the same amount of money. The rest is all smoke and mirrors.
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-general-expenditures-capita
In the end, the question is do you want good schools, good roads, good healthcare? Then it's gonna cost you a bit more. Do you not care about potholes and poor education? Then you can get away with a cheaper government.
In the end the difference between a good government spending money efficiently and a bad government purposely fucking things up is not that big in terms of money. But it is in quality of the services rendered.
US states spend very differently on many things, from education to... And on the federal level, the US has very different policies on spending and wealth distribution than say, Sweden..or Japan. Taxation is a multipurpose tool. It can certainly be used to engineer more equity. Or to further benefit the "winners." As a socialist (of sorts), I believe it's government's job to eliminate poverty and to generally protect the interests of the weak in the face of the power of capital. In the US, it's commonly believed government is and must be evil, even by those who most benefit from the advocacy present in good governance.
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