A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows, in Pennsylvania, lower-income working families pay more in state and local taxes than the state's wealthiest earners.
According to the report, PA's tax system scored so poorly that it made the list of the "Terrible 10" most regressive tax states in the nation. The study called "Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in all 50 States", examines state and local tax rates across the nation.
The study ranked PA as the 8th most regressive in the Nation. This ranking means taxes fall disproportionately on middle-class, working and poor families to the advantage of the richest taxpayers. The report also says, middle-income families in PA pay more than double the share of their income in taxes than the wealthiest residents and low income families pay nearly three times as much.
The report found PA families earning less than $19,000, who are the poorest fifth of taxpayers, pay 12% of their income in state and local taxes. Middle-income taxpayers, earning between $36,000 and $58,000, pay 10.1% of their income in state and local taxes and the richest 1% of taxpayers with incomes of $1.067 million, pay only 4.4 % of their income in taxes.
The study looked at what families pay in personal income, sales and property taxes, and took into account reductions in state and local taxes from federal deduction offsets.
PA's flat income tax, contributes to the ranking.
According to the report, PA's tax system scored so poorly that it made the list of the "Terrible 10" most regressive tax states in the nation. The study called "Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in all 50 States", examines state and local tax rates across the nation.
The study ranked PA as the 8th most regressive in the Nation. This ranking means taxes fall disproportionately on middle-class, working and poor families to the advantage of the richest taxpayers. The report also says, middle-income families in PA pay more than double the share of their income in taxes than the wealthiest residents and low income families pay nearly three times as much.
The report found PA families earning less than $19,000, who are the poorest fifth of taxpayers, pay 12% of their income in state and local taxes. Middle-income taxpayers, earning between $36,000 and $58,000, pay 10.1% of their income in state and local taxes and the richest 1% of taxpayers with incomes of $1.067 million, pay only 4.4 % of their income in taxes.
The study looked at what families pay in personal income, sales and property taxes, and took into account reductions in state and local taxes from federal deduction offsets.
PA's flat income tax, contributes to the ranking.