Times Daily: The root of the problem is in code
media mentionPosted: Thursday, June 12, 2014 10:00 pm
Additional money will be needed to solve the prison problems. Other state services have suffered budget cuts, as well, because not enough tax dollars are available under Alabama’s antiquated and inequitable tax code. That can be changed.
Officials are fond of touting the state’s low taxes as an economic development incentive. But in truth, Alabama has one of the most regressive tax codes in the nation, taxing the working poor and middle class at a much heavier rate than the wealthy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes Alabama depends heavily on sales taxes, even on food, which takes money away from the working poor at a greater rate than from the wealthy. It also found tax breaks in the state code are far more favorable to the wealthy than the poor and middle class.
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