Tax_Reform

Tax Reform Many Texans believe that the current tax system in Texas is unfair. The Texas state and local tax system fails to provide a stable source of revenue from balanced resources. There are many different ways to measure the impact of a tax system on various income groups. The most frequently used method defines taxes as “progressive,” “regressive” or “proportional,” depending on what happens to taxes paid as a percent of income as income changes. A progressive tax is one where the percentage of income taken by the tax increases as income increases. A regressive tax works just the opposite, taking a larger percentage of income as income decreases. A proportionate tax is one where the percentage remains the same as income goes either up or down. Using the above definitions, the overall State and local tax structure in Texas is regressive. Lower income families pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than do higher income families. Sales tax is the main reason poor families remain poor in Texas because they pay up to almost 10% of their income towards the sales tax. Middle income families pay upward of almost 5% while high income families pay tax, income, sales, pay, families, texas, taxes, system, percentage, based, regressive, higher, lower, ability, state, spend, smith, revenue, provide, progressive, poor, over, one, necessities, much, money, middle, less, just, increases, fails, economy, different, consumption, changes