Does Hawaii Soak the Poor and Middle Classes?
Local and state taxes on those struggling to get by are some of the highest in the nation.
Hawaii, you know you’re expensive. But did you know that in terms of taxes, you’re really unfair?
That’s the conclusion of the consumer and small business information website WalletHub, which examined state and local tax rates in all 50 states and ranked them for fairness.
Hawaii did terribly, placing 49th out of 50 states, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and U.S. Census Bureau numbers that WalletHub looked at. (Only the state of Washington did worse.)
It turns out that Hawaii, the state with the highest cost of living, puts a striking amount of tax pressure on people who aren’t at the upper end of the income spectrum.
Hawaii has the fourth most overtaxed poor people, defined as the lowest one-fifth of income earners, after the states of Washington, Illinois and Florida. Our middle class — people in the 40-60 percent income quintile — are the third most overtaxed, after Arkansas and New York.
Check out who carries what percentage of the tax burden in the state, and let us know what you think.
courtesy of
