American Prospect: Massive Spending Cuts, the Tax Act’s Hidden Costs

According to an analysis released last year by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, those in the bottom fifth of the income distribution paid just under 7 percent of their income in federal taxes, and just over 12 percent in state and local taxes. That contrasts with the top 1 percent of tax filers, who pay a quarter of their incomes, on average, to the federal government but less than 9 percent of their earnings on state and local taxes. For roughly 70 years, state and local taxes have increased faster than have federal taxes, which has ultimately made our overall tax structure significantly less progressive. Shifting yet more of the total tax burden to state and local governments means taking even more out of the paychecks of working people to finance massive cuts for corporations and the investor class. Read more