4/12/2024 0 Comments Virginia income tax brackets 2021![]() ![]() ![]() The report says that move would increase progressivity and state revenue, but Gov. There’s been pushback from parts of the state Capitol on some of JLARC’s proposals, including possibly raising taxes on the rich. That certainly wasn’t the case in Detroit, either, where I was living at the time.Ĭomments like the delegate’s make me ponder about the discernment process of the Honorables in Richmond. I don’t know of anywhere in America in 1990 that $17,000 was considered “rich” – especially not in Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads. “Thirty-two years ago, you were considered rich at $17,000 and hit the top tax bracket,” a delegate said earlier this year at a legislative hearing. Why someone earning six or seven figures annually is lumped in with a person making less than even $20,000 is mind-boggling. The third-highest bracket now, for instance, covers folks earning just $5,001 to $17,000, and the highest has everybody above $17,000. Virginia’s median income has risen 108% since then, “but income taxes owed by a single filer with median income increased 173%,” JLARC said.Īt a minimum, the state could update the tax brackets to account for inflation. That practically begs claims of neglect against our legislators. The problem is the Assembly hasn’t altered the state’s four tax brackets since 1990. The legislature nearly doubled the standard deduction, and it made the state earned income tax credit partly refundable. The report noted the Assembly, thankfully, already had changed two components of income tax this year to make it more progressive. Income taxes account for 70% of the state’s general fund revenue, so they’re the main source for spending. Virginia’s highest tax bracket starts at $17K. That means taxing people according to their ability to pay, instead of setting the same tax rates for the rich and the poor or taxing the poor disproportionately. The Assembly directed JLARC to study increasing the “progressivity” of the individual income tax system. My Virginia Mercury colleague Graham Moomaw reported on the antiquated brackets and JLARC’s recommendations to the General Assembly. I bring this up because the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released a report recently about making the income tax system fairer – and saner. Why didn’t I shoulder a heavier burden? Why didn’t folks earning much less keep more of their desperately needed cash – and render unto Caesar a smaller percentage? The brackets are based on taxable income. It didn’t represent even a whiff of equity. We both paid an income tax rate of 5.75%. That placed me into the same category as someone who made just over $17,000 a year. When I was a newspaper columnist in South Hampton Roads, I eventually earned in the upper five figures annually. Virginia’s income tax brackets have always shocked me, especially because of their glaring lack of fairness. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |