Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Dan Hynes made a progressive income tax the cornerstone of his campaign. Though Hynes’ campaign is over, the fight for fair tax policy lives on.
A progressive tax means the bigger your income, the higher percentage of it you pay to the state. The theory behind a progressive tax is that it places the burden of the tax on those who are most able to pay it.
Currently in Illinois, the tax structure takes a higher percentage of income from the poorest Illinoisans and a lower percentage from the richest in the state. This is because money is collected from a flat income tax, sales and excise taxes and property taxes, which collectively add up to a larger percentage of a poor person’s paycheck than a rich person’s.
As former NEA President Reg Weaver used to remind us: “If you’re trying to raise revenue by taxing poor people, it won’t work for one obvious reason. Poor people don’t have any money!”
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
You need to be more accurate about income tax descriptions. Illinois has a flat tax, which means everyone pays the same percentage of income in taxes. Your article may be well meaning, but it’s statement about taxes is incorrect.
We appreciate your comment but we believe the post is accurate.
As the post states, Illinois’ flat tax is inherently unfair because those with less money pay the same (flat) rate as the wealthy. That is why IEA supports Dan Hynes’ call for a constitutional amendment that would create a progressive income tax.
Dear Mr. McBarron,
In your article you state the following: “Currently in Illinois, the tax structure takes a higher percentage of income from the poorest Illinoisans and a lower percentage from the richest in the state.”
You then go on to list as examples the following taxes: “a flat income tax, sales and excise taxes and property taxes, which collectively add up to a larger percentage of a poor person’s paycheck than a rich person’s.”
Your statements are inaccurate. The same percentage is assessed to every taxpayer. I believe that what you are really trying to say is that poor people must give up a greater part of their of purchasing power to meet tax obligations than individuals with greater wealth.
Although I personally agree that those with greater resources can afford to pay greater taxes than those of lesser means, It does not make the above statements in your article true.
All of the taxes listed are assessed as a percentage of something whether it be income, amount of purchase, or value of property. Some of these taxes are assessed at the federal level, some at the state level, and some at the local level. Different groups of elected officials at different levels of our federal system control these taxes.
The election or non-election of Mr. Hynes will not influence some of these taxes at all, nor will an amendment to the Illinois Constitution. I do agree that progressive taxation makes sense and should be supported. I also believe that all citizens should pay something to support important governmental activities.
The best way to help make that happen, in my opinion, is to accurately describe the flaws of the present system of taxation.
We agree. You said, “The same percentage is assessed to every taxpayer.” This is absolutely true, as is this, “…poor people must give up a greater part of their of purchasing power to meet tax obligations than individuals with greater wealth.”
Well stated.
An excellent exchange! Actually the current tax structure in Illinois (a combination of the flat rate income tax, property tax, sales tax, excise tax) does take a higher percentage of the income of poor Illinoisans. Individuals can only consume so much. Income, i.e. “purchasing power” runs out quicker for a poor person. In the meantime, they have paid “sales tax and/or excise taxes” on those purchases. A person with greater means consumes as much as they can (also paying those taxes), but then may be physically unable to consume more and puts the excess into savings (where sales tax is not collected because the money is not used for consumption). If we examine property taxes, we find the highest tax rates among our State’s poorest communities (“100% of nothing is nothing”)yielding much less in tax revenue than other more affluent communities with much lower rates. I would be interested in examining who is participating in gambling and our State Lottery which is also part of our tax structure.
For Illinois to have a progressive income tax, a State Constitutional amendment must be passed by the General Assembly and submitted to the voters. The IEA Legislative Platform has long supported progressive taxation. The kind of dialogue between vttk17a and Charlie McBarron needs to continue among our members as we work to make that resolution a reality.