Reno News Review: Another Portrait of Ripped-off Nevadans

But wait, there’s more bad news for Nevada. The New York Times editorialized last Sunday on the growing trend toward inequality caused by how state and local taxes are assessed. According to a 2018 study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, (ITEP) “the poor pay taxes at higher rates in 45 of the 50 states.” California, which Republicans love to vilify, is actually the state with the most progressive tax system, taxing the wealthy at higher rates than the poor.

Ready to guess where Nevada falls on the list? We are the fifth most unfair state in taxation, burdening our poorer residents with paying a larger percentage of income in taxes than anyone else. According to the ITEP inequality index, Nevada’s poorest 20 percent of families pay 10.2 percent of their income in taxes, while our middle 60 percent of families pay 7.4 percent, and our one percenters fork out just 1.9 percent.

ITEP found that the six most regressive tax systems “rely heavily on regressive sales and excise taxes. These states derive roughly half to two-thirds of their tax revenue from these taxes, compared to the national average of 35 percent in fiscal year 2014-2015.”

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