Questions and answers you need about state spending and the new state income tax

The “Fair Share Myth” That Won’t Die

• According to the Department of Revenue (DOR), taxpayers earning over $243,000 pay approximately $41,020 in state and local taxes per biennium. Those in the lowest bracket ($16,000-$32,000) pay an average of $7,206.
• The data shows that the top income groups contribute vastly more in total tax dollars than lower-earning brackets.
• Low-income families do pay a higher share of their income in taxes but when you look at total dollars collected, higher earners contribute the overwhelming majority of tax revenue, contributing tens of thousands of dollars more per year than anyone else. 
• The truth is that both low-earners and high-earners are overtaxed. Low-income earners shouldn’t be paying over 14% of their salary in taxes.
• If you could tax your way to prosperity on the backs of high earners, California would be budget nirvana.
• Despite many billions in surplus revenues and many, many public speeches extolling concern for the tax burdens carried by the middle and lower income families, the Legislature has not reduced the state sales tax rate since 1982. 

Conclusion: The poor are not “carrying the rest of the state on their backs” and the rich are paying a substantial majority of the total dollars Washington collects. The “fair share” arguments are a distraction from the harms of the income tax and the failure of the Legislature to cut the sales tax to provide relief.