More insanity from Illinois : let's raise income tax rate by 75%

Illinois, spearheading the insanity movement in the US.

Illinois Lawmakers Propose 75 Percent Income Tax Hike

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) – Gov. Pat Quinn and the leaders of both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have agreed on raising the state income tax.

If the bill passes, the plan would raise the personal income tax rate from the current 3 percent to 5.25 percent. That’s a 75 percent increase. In real dollars, that would mean if you currently owe $1,000 in taxes, next year you would owe $1,750.

That's great uh?

The increase is for four years. After that, the personal income tax would go down to 3.75 percent.

Anyone believing this... I have great on-the-beach property to sell ya on Mount Everest.

The Democratic leaders in the Illinois General Assembly believe this income tax increase, a corporate tax hike, and a $1-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes would erase the state’s $15 billion budget deficit.

Or another way of cutting the deficit... CUT THE FREAKING SPENDING.

And you can bet this is gonna happen everywhere in the US in due time... including the federal government.

Illinois, IMO has gone beyond the Californian insanity levels... what ya think?

hi i am not familliar with the american tax system but i had too look twice! 3%!! thats crazy!! im in britain and i pay 20% im self employed but pretty sure if your on the books it about 22%!! im in shock

reply to post by girdermonkey84


No, no that's just the states cut. We still have to pay federal tax along with social security, and local taxes. All in all just about every single person in the US claiming 0 on their tax form is on the hook for around 33% in tax between them all. So 20% isn't bad at all really.

Originally posted by girdermonkey84
hi i am not familliar with the american tax system but i had too look twice! 3%!! thats crazy!! im in britain and i pay 20% im self employed but pretty sure if your on the books it about 22%!! im in shock

The national average for income tax is 9.7% by state by some reports. However, it's all of the other little ways of sticking it to you that get you, and there is no way to quantify it all. Estimates start somewhere close to your 22% and go up from there. We payed overall nearly 25% of our income to state and federal taxes last year, and we will be close to 30% this year.

The American tax system is a bloated, convoluted mess that not even the 'experts' can sort out. They certainly get you coming and going though. I'm waiting for a blatant 'head tax'.

Let's take a $125,000 family income in the SF Bay area (half of 'wealthy'). That's still in the 33% federal tax bracket. The 33% is graduated, so it's about 25% overall. The other taxes (SS, FICA, etc) bring it back to 33%. California income tax is a straight 9.3%. So far for every dollar, take home is 57 cents. A monthly salary is $10,416, and take home is $5,937. Do the responsible thing and put 10% into 401K to feed corporations and you're left with $5,334.

Property tax is thankfully low at 1%. But 2,000-3,000 sq ft homes in the SF bay area are $1M on average (now about $800K), so that's $10,000 a year. On a typical mortgage of $500K, $500K is principal and another $500K goes to the bank. Payments at a rate from a few years ago, would be $3,500 (average half goes to the bank), and property tax is $833. Amount left is $1,001.

Gasoline in California is taxed at 42 cents per gallon. That $3 per gallon price is really $2.58. Fill up a 20 gallon tank, and $51.60 is gas and $8.40 is fed and state and local tax (16.2%). Four and a half weeks per month and a tank per week is $232.20 gas and $37.80 tax ($270). Amount left is $731.

The sales tax is around 9.75%. For a purchase of 57 cents, 52 cents is product and 5 cents is tax. Close to 10% of money that was already taxed goes to the government. Two runs to Costco totaling $600 and you have $131 left. Spend the rest on miscellaneous and $13 went to tax, nothing left.

Of the $125,000 income or $10,416 monthly, $7,172.8 went to the government (including $1,750 that went to bank mortgage interest). The rest, $3,243.20 was spent on real goods (401K savings, principal, gas, food, etc.). 70% went to government, and 30% was spent on family. That means that for every dollar made, what you bring home to family is 30 cents.

Caveat: I'm missing lots of hidden taxes, and home price was rounded up for easier math.

reply to post by girdermonkey84

hi i am not familliar with the american tax system but i had too look twice! 3%!! thats crazy!! im in britain and i pay 20% im self employed but pretty sure if your on the books it about 22%!! im in shock

In the USA we pay a lot of different taxes:
30% federal (varies by income bracket)
30.6% for Social Security
5.8% for Medicare
6.0% Sales tax (varies by state)
5.0% State tax (varies by state)
77.4% TOTAL

This does not include property tax (I pay over to $4,000/year) and things like 30% tax on gasoline, and the hidden taxes on everything you buy like bread.

i would just like to apologise for not looking properly for information on this topic,it seems we dont have it that bad after all,actually makes me quite glad to be a uk citizen in a way,man you americans always seem to be worse off in everything!would i be right in saying its happening all over the world?are there any countries that are better for tax than the rest? again excuse my ignorence i am very intrested in this topic just not that clued up,many thanks

Looks like three decades of "tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts" is really starting to pay dividends now, eh?

This is totally insane!!! With gas prices and food prices rising, unemployment at 9.5%, soon to go back up to probably over 10%. I am a resident of Illinois and have been my whole life and I can tell you this is probably the most corrupt state in the union. The Democrats run the show and have for years. Cronyism was invented here. I just wrote my congressman and am waiting back for his response to this ridiculous proposal.

Originally posted by whateverpedia
Looks like three decades of "tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts" is really starting to pay dividends now, eh?

You do realize this thread is about paying way too much in taxes, don't you?

The tax cuts stimulated the economy and is partly to blame for the economic bubbles enjoyed during the Clinton era. Unfortunately I think the bubble was intentional, one of a series of bubbles trying to keep the economic parabolic arc up to keep pace with the global population explosion. More and more it looks like a game of delay and kick the can down the road.

Illinois lawmakers pass income tax hike; Rep. collapses on Senate floor

SPRINGFIELD — Closing out a contentious lame-duck legislative session, Illinois Democrats handed Gov. Quinn a major political victory early Wednesday by voting to raise the state income tax by 66 percent and buy him some financial stability for his first full term in office.

The state Senate voted 30-29 at 1:20 a.m. to send the tax-hike package to the governor about 10 minutes after paramedics carried state Rep. David Miller (D-Lynwood) off the Senate floor on a stretcher.

That was close.

They voted to raise our taxes 66% with NO spending cuts. Following the approval of the tax increase, The legislature approved a $4 billion borrowing plan that would cover what the state owes this year to its five pension systems.
Remember that thread "Detroit in ruins"? Well they also increased the corporate tax rate from 4.8% to 7% to ensure that small business would NOT grow in Illinois.

Why did ciggarettes go up in price so fast? Because,your local government could have realised "lets raise ciggarette taxes,a completely unneeded luxury,yea lets raise that tax to pay for our debt and it wont hurt a soul"

well now you cannot do that,the federal government beat your lazy local governement to it,and now you will have to suffer,by paying more for something that is needed.

So,that is why your taxes are going up,your local government did not put the iron fist down and tax the helll out of unneeded luxurys,so now you all pay through your needed income.

People have to think about moving,before the train is at their time and space.