October 17, 2018

Connecticut: Who Pays? 6th Edition


CONNECTICUT

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CONNECTICUT STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

Taxes as Share of Family Income

Top 20%
Income Group Lowest
20%		 Second
20%		 Middle
20%		 Fourth
20%		 Next
15%		 Next
4%		 Top
1%
Income Range Less than
$23,300		 $23,300 to
$45,800		 $45,800 to
$77,100		 $77,100 to
$131,500		 $131,500 to
$341,400		 $341,400 to
$968,200		 over
$968,200
Average Income $12,600 $34,800 $60,700 $99,400 $195,100 $505,100 $3,146,700
Sales & Excise Taxes 6.8% 4.9% 3.8% 3.2% 2.2% 1.4% 0.8%
General Sales – Individuals 2.5% 2.1% 1.8% 1.6% 1.1% 0.8% 0.5%
Other Sales & Excise – Ind. 2.0% 1.1% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.1%
Sales & Excise on Business 2.3% 1.6% 1.3% 1.0% 0.7% 0.5% 0.3%
Property Taxes 5.5% 3.3% 4.9% 4.9% 4.2% 3.1% 1.2%
Home, Rent, Car – Ind. 5.4% 3.3% 4.8% 4.8% 4.1% 2.6% 0.4%
Other Property Taxes 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.5% 0.8%
Income Taxes -0.8% 1.1% 3.5% 4.0% 4.6% 5.1% 6.2%
Personal Income Tax -0.8% 1.0% 3.5% 4.0% 4.5% 5.0% 6.0%
Corporate Income Tax 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%
TOTAL TAXES 11.5% 9.2% 12.2% 12.1% 11.1% 9.6% 8.1%

Individual figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. Download the table

TAX FEATURES DRIVING THE DATA in Connecticut


Progressive Features
Regressive Features
  • Graduated personal income tax structure
  • Provides refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (credit was reduced in 2017)
  • Provides comparatively large personal exemptions and credits for low- and middle-income taxpayers
  • Provides a property tax credit for low- and middle-income taxpayers
  • Sales tax base excludes groceries
  • Requires the use of combined reporting for the corporate income tax
  • Levies a state estate tax
  • Comparatively high reliance on property taxes
  • Comparatively high cigarette tax rate
  • Fails to provide a property tax “circuit breaker” credit for low-income, non-elderly taxpayers

ITEP Tax Inequality Index

According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, which measures the impact of each state’s tax system on income inequality, Connecticut has the 29th most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Incomes are more unequal in Connecticut after state and local taxes are collected than before. (See Appendix B for state-by-state rankings and the methodology section for additional detail on the index.)

Note: Figures show permanent law in Connecticut enacted through September 10, 2018, at 2015 income levels. Top figure represents total state and local taxes as a share of non-elderly income. The sixth edition of Who Pays does not include the impact of the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) because policy changes in the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act temporarily limited the extent to which the SALT deduction functions as a generalized offset of state and local taxes.