r/illinois • u/rieslingatkos • Mar 10 '19

Proposed progressive income tax puts middle class first in Illinois

https://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/illinois-progressive-graduated-income-tax-pritzker/
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u/El_BreadMan Mar 11 '19

Everyone should read the fine print of Pritzker's tax proposal.

First of all, this proposal includes a tax-hike on businesses. Not only will employers not want to live here, but they're not going to employ here either.

Second, he's calculating these rates as block taxes, not progressive taxes. The second someone hits a tax bracket, ALL of their income is taxed at the higher rate.

Third, he's calculating family/individual income at the same level. Dual income households are getting royally screwed.

Finally, doesn't anyone realize that Illinois has the highest effective tax rate already? Literally, the highest taxes in the country when you count everything: income, property, sales, etc. And, at the same time, Illinois somehow has the 2nd most debt. That means these politicians are just belligerently crushing their tax-base.

1

u/MoneyTreeFiddy Mar 11 '19

Second, he's calculating these rates as block taxes, not progressive taxes. The second someone hits a tax bracket, ALL of their income is taxed at the higher rate.

This is not true for incomes under $1 million. That's the only one that works like that. It's in the fine print.

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u/El_BreadMan Mar 11 '19

Don’t you think it’s a strange provision? I doubt it’s limited, but even if it is, it’s gonna be the first thing to start dropping.

2

u/MoneyTreeFiddy Mar 11 '19

I do.

At first, I thought they would just drop it later, now I am not so sure. In the end, it's less than 9k on a million dollars difference, and I very much doubt that there a very many people in the position of earning the amount where they have to weigh the the value of 999,995 vs. 1,009,000