Details on the tax end have emerged for the state budget and we have rumors of choppy waters ahead. We need a public tsunami.
It’s a fiscal disaster for state finances long-term, even though it gets us through short-term—though even there at great cost (see http://30daysinjune.blogspot.com/2009/06/proposed-budget.html for impacts on education especially).
Let’s start with the math.
Here’s the flat tax proposal (see my prior post on the flat tax (http://www.makedemocracywork.org/columns/2009/06/27/a-flat-tax-is-flat-wrong/ ).
| Single/Married Filing Separate income brackets | Married Filing Joint/Head of Household income brackets | Current Individual Income Tax Rates | New Rate with the Flat Tax | Percent decrease |
| $0 - $10,000 | $0 - $20,000 | 2.59% | 0% | 100% |
| $10,001 - $25,000 | $20,001 - $50,000 | 2.88% | 2.8% | 2.78% |
| $25,001 - $50,000 | $50,001 - $100,000 | 3.36% | 2.8% | 16.67% |
| $50,001 - $150,000 | $100,001 - $300,000 | 4.24% | 2.8% | 33.96% |
| $150,001 and over | $300,001 and over | 4.54% | 2.8% | 38.33% |
It’s not revenue neutral and kicks in for the 2012 calendar year…the estimated cost $450 million.NO WAIT! There’s a HUGE MATH ERROR in the document that legislators and the public have been viewing! Read the rest of this entry »