Mother Jones: How Hillary Can Rein in Big Finance

“Sales and excise taxes are the most regressive element in most state and local tax systems,” says the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which examines state tax systems every year. Last year, it claimed Washington had the most unfair tax system in the country, largely because the state, which lacks an income tax, raises nearly half its revenue from sales taxes. According to ITEP, the working poor in Washington pay 12.6 percent of their family income in sales taxes. The top 1 percent pay 1.6 percent. That’s pretty damn regressive.

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