A report released Wednesday by Connecticut Voices for Children concludes that the state’s wealthiest residents pay much less of their income in state and local taxes than do the state’s middle-income and poor families.
The report found that after federal income tax deductions for state income and property taxes, the wealthiest 1 percent of Connecticut’s families with average income in 2007 of $4.2 million paid only 4.5 percent of their income in state and local taxes. This was less than half the share of income paid in these taxes by the state’s middle-income families who paid 9.3 percent of their average income of $55,000 and the poorest 20 percent of families who paid 12.1 percent of their average income of $12,200.
CT Voices for Children, a research-based policy think tank, is lobbying the state legislature to pass a more progressive income tax.
When the Democrats unveiled their budget proposal April 2 they included a progressive income tax. The Democratic proposal increases the percentage of income tax from 5 percent to 6 percent for couples making $250,000 a year. The percentage jumps to 7 percent for those making over $500,000, 7.5 percent for those making over $750,000, and 7.95 percent for those making more than $1 million per year. Currently, all of those income brackets pay 5 percent.
“Before Connecticut policymakers make severe state budget cuts that could harm Connecticut families and the economy, they should at least make sure that the wealthiest residents are contributing their fair share toward the common good,” Douglas Hall, acting managing director of CT Voices for Children, said in a press release.
Click here to download the full report.