A November 2009 report shows that nearly every U.S. state and local tax system takes a much greater share of income from poor and working-class residents than from the wealthy.
The study analyzes cumulative state income, sales, excise and property taxes as a percentage of a taxpayer’s income. Only two states require their wealthiest residents to pay taxes at least at the same rate as poor and working-class residents. All states but one have regressive tax systems, where the wealthiest people are taxed the least.
Residents earning the lowest 20 percent of income pay nearly 11 percent of their income in state taxes. The wealthy earning the top one percent of income, pay just over 5 percent in taxes.
Poor and working people have seen their public benefits and services slashed while unemployment and poverty grow. An economic system that serves the rich cannot possibly meet the needs and protect the rights of working-class people.
