Taxes: Idaho Vs Washington

T here’s no great mystery why Idaho has trouble funding its schools and fixing its roads: The state has low taxes and low wages. Relative to its income level, Idaho has the 41st lowest tax rate in the nation, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission. Only Mississippi has a lower per-capita income. But don’t look so smug, Washington progressives: Washington may take in more tax revenue to fund more programs than Idaho, but its tax system hits the poor far harder. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy concluded that Washington had the most unfair tax system in the nation, with the the bottom 20 percent of non-elderly taxpayers — families making less than $21,000 a year — paying more than 16 percent of their income in state and local taxes. The super-rich top 1 percent? They pay only 2.4 percent. Idaho’s tax system, by contrast, ranks among the fairest/ Daniel Walters , Inlander. More here . (Illustration: Inlander)

Question: Do you consider Idaho’s tax system fair?