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Eye On Boise

ATI analysis: Middle-income taxpayers pay more under HB 311, upper-income benefit

OK, let’s try this again: Associated Taxpayers of Idaho has released an analysis of HB 311, the sweeping tax bill that passed the House today, and how it affects average Idaho taxpayers. Taking into account the changes in sales, income and gas taxes, ATI found that a single filer making Idaho’s average income of $36,832 a year would see a $95 tax cut. (An earlier version of this post had this backwards, as an increase.) A single filer who makes Idaho’s median income of $27,932 would see an increase of $35.

Meanwhile, an average two-income family of three, who make $73,464 a year in household income, would see a tax cut of $31. A two-income family of three making Idaho’s median income of $55,949 would see a $228 tax hike.

ATI’s conclusions are similar to those of the Center for Fiscal Policy, which also ran the numbers and analyzed the bill to see how it impacts various taxpayers: The middle-income taxpayer takes a hit under the bill, while higher-income taxpayers benefit.

ATI also looked at whose income tax rates would go up – those who are in the middle bracket, now paying 6.1 percent, but would be moved, along with higher earners now paying 7.1 or 7.4 percent, into a new top bracket at a flat 6.7 percent. According to the state Tax Commission, there 25,613 tax returns in 2013 were in that 6.1 percent bracket, and those taxpayers would pay more under the bill.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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