The Times-Picayune: Why Aren’t the Governor’s Candidates Discussing Poverty?: Robert Mann

Speaking of inequality, it’s not bad enough just to be poor in Louisiana. You can also count on state and local governments taxing you twice as much as the wealthy. A 2013 study of states by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Louisiana families earning less than $16,000 a year paid an average of 10.6 percent of their income in state and local sales, property and income taxes. The same taxes accounted for only 4.6 percent of income for families earning $418,000 or more.

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