The Inlander: Taxes-Idaho v. Washington

But don’t look so smug, Washington progressives: Washington may take in more tax revenue to fund more programs than Idaho, but its tax system hits the poor far harder.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy concluded that Washington had the most unfair tax system in the nation, with the the bottom 20 percent of non-elderly taxpayers — families making less than $21,000 a year — paying more than 16 percent of their income in state and local taxes. The super-rich top 1 percent? They pay only 2.4 percent. Idaho’s tax system, by contrast, ranks among the fairest.

Washington’s and Idaho’s state governments are funded by a cocktail of small taxes — gas taxes, cigarette taxes, alcohol taxes, utility taxes — and big ones. Here’s how Washington and Idaho’s major taxes stack up:

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