U.S. News and World Report: Study: Residents With Lower Incomes Pay a Higher Effective Tax Rate

States and localities are filling their coffers by disproportionately burdening lower-income residents, who are taxed at a higher effective rate than top earners, according to a study released Wednesday by a tax policy group.

The 50-state analysis by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the lower one’s income, the higher the effective overall state and local tax rate. The study includes sales taxes, excise taxes, user fees and income taxes. In fact, states which boast low income taxes are often the most likely to have systems that end up shifting the fiscal burden to lower-income residents, Carl Davis, one of the authors of the study, told reporters in a conference call.