Taxes: Income
The income tax has been the primary means of funding the federal government since 1913 when the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted. It is a progressive tax on individual and corporate income, based on income levels. 43 states impose an income tax on individuals, while 47 states impose a tax on the income of corporations. Many municipalities and counties also levy income taxes on their residents.
Commentary
Cry Wolf Quotes
When a man has accumulated a sum of money within the law, that is to say, in the legally correct way, the people no longer have any right to share in the earnings resulting from the accumulation.
[A tax on incomes exceeding $4,000 will drive] rich men to go abroad and live.
Clearly, this is a job-killer in the short-run. The revenues forecast for this budget will not materialize; the costs of this budget will be greater than what is forecast. The deficit will be worse, and it is not a good omen for the American economy. The impact on job creation is going to be devastating, and the American young people in particular will suffer a fairly substantial deferment of their lives because there simply won't be jobs for the next two to three years to go around to our young graduates across the country.
Like this two-sided coin, the Clinton budget bill has two sides. One side is a tax increase-the largest tax increase in the world, and most Americans know that. But the other side of this coin-of the Clinton budget plan is something else, and it's not spending cuts; it's spending increases: $165 billion in new domestic spending, adding $1.2 trillion to the deficit, growing Government by 20 percent over the next 4 years, all charged to our children and grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, with most coins it is: Heads, you win; tails, you lose; but with the Clinton budget bill it is: Tax increases, the American people lose; spending increases, the American people lose. There is something new about this coin, but there is absolutely nothing new about the Clinton proposal. It is tax and spend: Heads, you lose; tails, you lose.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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Millionaire Migration and State Taxation of Top Incomes: Evidence From A Natural Experiment
The rich did not flee New Jersey wen the state raised tax rates on top earners by 2.6 percentage points.
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Maryland Millionaires Vanish in the Face of Recession, Not Higher Taxes
Maryland's tax increases on the rich did not induce millionaire flight.
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Conservative Commentator Examines the History of Right-Wing Tax Cut Hypocrisy
Hard right-wingers fear-monger in the face of tax increases of both Republican and Democratic administations.
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Tax Cuts on the Rich Don't Spur Economic Growth
The Center for American Progress takes apart supply side myths.
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The Number of High-Income Taxpayers Increased Significantly During a Period With 10 Percent and 11 Percent Tax Rates on High-Income Earners
After California raised taxes on the rich, the number of residents in the affected tax brackets rose as well.
Backgrounders & Briefs
Taxes Not Seen as Making the Rich Flee New York
Almost everyone agrees that raising taxes on the rich does not induce mass upper-class migration.
Resources
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a think tank focused on tax and fiscal policy. They provide in-depth analysis of state issues.
Citizens for Tax Justice is an organization that represents low and middle income citizens in the tax debates on Capitol Hill.
