CPPP: The Staggering Unfairness of Our State Tax System

A new national study of state and local tax systems says Texas has the second most unfair system in the country.

Here’s one way to think about it: Families at the top of the income ladder receive 20 percent of all personal income in Texas, but pay only 8.5 percent of all state and local taxes. Families at the bottom of the scale receive only three percent of all income, but pay 5.7 percent of all taxes.

This means that incomes in Texas are even more unequal after people pay state and local taxes than before they pay. This totally backward tax structure holds back families already struggling to put food on the table.

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