St Croix Battle II: Minnesota v. Wisconsin on taxes

[Nice Squirrel]

http://www.minnpost.com/politics-po...onsin-it-turns-out-would-save-taxes-moving-mi

And yet, despite all the ink spilled about both Walker and Dayton and their records, almost all of the assessments overlook a longstanding but seldom-discussed fact about life on either side of the St. Croix River: that a majority Minnesotans actually pay a smaller share of their household income toward taxes than Wisconsinites.

The primacy of property taxes
How can that be the case?

In 2013, Walker delivered on one of his big campaign promises when the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill that compressed five income tax brackets into four and lowered all rates, reducing the average rate from 6.4 percent to 5.9 percent.

That same year, Minnesota went in the opposite direction, with the Legislature passing a Dayton-led initiative to add a fourth state income bracket for individuals earning over $150,000 or couples earning over $250,000. The rate, of 9.85 percent, was among the highest in the country, and it meant the state’s average income tax rate would go from 6.8 percent to 7.5 percent.

But those high-profile changes only affected the income tax, not sales tax or, importantly, property tax — the key factor in comparing the overall tax burden between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

It is an interesting read.

 

[marc]

Seems to agree with something I've long thought. That when many people complain about their high taxes, those high taxes (property/sales) are the result of too low taxes (income). The bills still have to be paid, so it is just a shift in who and how they are paid.

 

[Sarpedon]

One might argue that this is a progressive tax system, as property taxes are paid by those with the property, not the poor. Hmmmm. I wager it hits the middle class hardest though, as they probably have more of their total percentage of assets tied up in a non rental property, while the rich can pass on the tax burdens to their renters.

What does one call a system of taxation that burdens the middle class more than either the rich or the poor? Besides asinine?