San Antonio Express News: Real Question Is Whether to Cut Any Tax

But fairness hasn’t been Texas’ strong suit. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released its annual analysis of the states’ tax systems in January. Texas is in the top 10 most regressive, behind Washington state and Florida.

A regressive tax is one that unduly burdens those least able to pay, while the wealthy pay less of a percentage of their income. This is the case in Texas because of its reliance on sales taxes, which make up 50 percent of the state’s tax revenue.

Property taxes are less regressive but still regressive. And Texas gets 38 percent of its revenue from this source.

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