October 17, 2018

Wisconsin: Who Pays? 6th Edition


WISCONSIN

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WISCONSIN 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
$22,100		 $22,100 to
$39,400		 $39,400 to
$65,000		 $65,000 to
$100,300		 $100,300 to
$198,000		 $198,000 to
$512,600		 over
$512,600
Average Income $14,700 $30,400 $50,800 $79,500 $133,200 $302,300 $1,169,400
Sales & Excise Taxes 5.8% 4.8% 3.8% 3.2% 2.3% 1.4% 0.8%
General Sales – Individuals 2.4% 2.2% 1.9% 1.7% 1.3% 0.9% 0.5%
Other Sales & Excise – Ind. 1.8% 1.3% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.1%
Sales & Excise on Business 1.6% 1.3% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2%
Property Taxes 4.3% 3.6% 3.4% 3.7% 3.4% 2.4% 1.6%
Home, Rent, Car – Ind. 4.3% 3.6% 3.3% 3.5% 3.3% 2.1% 0.6%
Other Property Taxes 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.4% 0.9%
Income Taxes 0.0% 1.7% 3.0% 3.8% 4.4% 4.6% 5.4%
Personal Income Tax -0.1% 1.7% 3.0% 3.7% 4.3% 4.5% 5.2%
Corporate Income Tax 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2%
TOTAL TAXES 10.1% 10.2% 10.1% 10.6% 10.1% 8.5% 7.7%

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

TAX FEATURES DRIVING THE DATA in Wisconsin


Progressive Features
Regressive Features
  • Graduated personal income tax structure
  • Provides a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
  • Provides a refundable property tax “circuit breaker” credit to low-income taxpayers via the income tax
  • Sales tax base excludes groceries
  • Requires the use of combined reporting for the corporate income tax
  • Provides an income tax exclusion equal to 30 percent of capital gains income
  • Comparatively high cigarette tax rate
  • Does not levy a tax on estates or inheritances

ITEP Tax Inequality Index

According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, which measures the impact of each state’s tax system on income inequality, Wisconsin has the 34th most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Incomes are more unequal in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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.