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State of Texas: Who Pays How Much In Taxes

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State of Texas: Who Pays How Much In Taxes

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Dave Mann has been with the Observer since 2003. Before that, he worked as a reporter in Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. He was born and raised in Philadelphia. He thinks border collies are the world’s greatest dogs, and believes in the nourishing powers of pickup basketball.

  • http://twitter.com/Luterinho Martinho Luterinho

    I guess Jesus was right after all. He did tell his disciples that the widow donated more than the extravagant, but proportionately lesser, tax payment of the rich (Mk 12:41-44). So, let us tax the poor and the working poor even more b/c the poor and the working poor aren’t pay enough taxes, they can pay more. Do you agree?

  • SoberMoney

    This article tells us everything we need to know about Texas: 1) Elite owned politicians, 2) ignorant voters, and 3) complacent citizens and consumers.

    Fortunately this journal is finally telling still inquisitive and intelligent Texans the truth. Whether the truth is of any interest, time will tell.

Texas' tax system is one of the most regressive in the country, meaning it falls especially hard on the poor. Texas relies on sales tax for more than half its tax revenue. Poorer families pay a disproportionate share of their income in sales taxes. In Texas, the poorest families pay 14 percent of their income in state taxes; the richest families pay 3.6 percent. Some state lawmakers are proposing a sales tax hike to pay for road construction and help the Texas Department of Transportation out of debt. That would force poorer families to pay an even greater share of their income in state taxes.

Sources: Center for Public Priorities; Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 

Illustration by Joanna Wojtkowiak