More details emerged this week about Governor Brownback’s plan to phase out the Kansas income tax. I have been worried for some time that eliminating the income tax could shift the tax burden from our wealthiest citizens to those with the least means to pay. Now that figures from within the administration have been made public, it is safe to say those worries are legitimate.Governor Brownback’s own Department of Revenue acknowledged that Kansans making less than $25,000 will be shouldered with a 5102% tax increase under his plan, while those making more than $250,000 will enjoy an 18.5% tax cut. Governor Brownback argued that his 5102% tax increase on the poor will be offset by a “larger commitment to social services.” But if our goal is to renew the American Dream, doesn’t it make more sense to reward work rather than push folks onto government welfare? Also, the $90 million tax increase as a result of the repeal of the Earned Income Tax Credit does not show in the Governor’s budget as an increase in spending for Medicare or other programs for the poor.
It is worth noting that the current income tax structure is already very accommodating to those at the top. In Kansas, a person earning $60,000 a year pays the same income tax as someone earning $6 million. When you think about it, that’s a pretty good deal for the neighborhood multi-millionaires. Of course, everyone enjoys tax cuts, but it seems quite unfair to offer an 18.5% tax cut to our wealthiest citizens at the expense of our most impoverished citizens.
The Governor’s tax plan also makes permanent a temporary sales tax increase that is set to expire in the next couple of years. The Governor and many Republican lawmakers campaigned hard against that tax increase during the 2010 election. It seems ironic for them to now propose making it permanent, especially when our poorest citizens pay 32% of their income in sales tax while the rich only pay 7%.
I support tax reform, but I just cannot support a tax plan that makes the gap between the rich and the middle class even wider, especially while schools and other government services are left insufficiently funded. It’s still early in the session, but I am struggling to find any sense of fairness or fiscal responsibility in the Governor’s plan so far.
If the temporary sales tax is not allowed to expire as promised, what does that say about the Governor and Legislature’s integrity. To justify reducing income tax and increasing sales tax and claim that we all suffer equally must be predicated on the fact that the poor person requires less to eat than the rich man. If you assume otherwise, that they both require the same amount of food for sustenance, and take that a step further and assume what they eat costs the same, then it is obvious that the person that can least afford it, pays a much higher percentage of his income on food that those of greater means. I just see the Governors tax plan as a means of transferring the tax burden from those with the most means and ability to protect their own interests to those that have the least ability and means.
I rely on the return from the interest mortgage deduction for up-keep and up-grading my home. The last several years that money has gone for a much needed bath room remodel, a wood fence, and upgrading electrical to code (my wiring dated from the 1970s). All of this provided employment for local trades people and workers. I am sure I am not alone in the way I use this money. Eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction will result in less spending in the local economy.
I was a victim of the tax inequity for all of the years I worked for the Anesthesiologist here in Wichita and I was well aware of this inequity. I am tired of the wealthy claiming they worked hard to make their millions. Most of that money was made at the expense of their employees and now they pay not tax or a pittance of what I continue to pay since I am single. One of my big concerns is the loss of charitable contributions as a deduction. Not only will this hurt me, but it will decrease the amount that is given each year. Gov. B. entire tax program needs to be scrapped and the legislators need to control the budget.