Illinois raises income taxes by 66%

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Democratic Illinois lawmakers beat a looming deadline and approved a 66 percent income-[COLOR=#366388 ! important][COLOR=#366388 ! important]tax [COLOR=#366388 ! important]increase[/COLOR][/COLOR] in a desperate bid to end the state's crippling budget crisis.[/COLOR]

Ill. faces 66 percent tax boost amid budget crisis - Yahoo! News

WOW! I'm curious what people think about this......

 

I am surprised Moen did not pronounce that the best act of the year. I am sure he will be tickled pink paying more taxes because it is his duty.

 

I could not imagine having my taxes raised this much. That is a huge jump. How in the world can anyone afford this? I know I sure could not.

 

It is only a shocking 67% when you consider that we were paying 3% and now we'll pay 5% for I believe 3 years and then it is supposed to drop a full percent back to 4%. Many states pay far higher state taxes. Who cares, I just got a big raise. I can afford it.

 

My pension depends on those taxes

 

What is your state income tax?

Let see, if you live in Oklahoma...

How Oklahoma State income tax rates are structured

The tax table below will show in detail the Oklahoma state income tax rates by income tax bracket(s). There are 7 income tax brackets for Oklahoma.

If your income range is between $0 and $1,000, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 0.5%.
If your income range is between $1,001 and $2,500, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 1%.
If your income range is between $2,501 and $3,750, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 2%.
If your income range is between $3,751 and $4,900, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 3%.
If your income range is between $4,901 and $7,200, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 4%.
If your income range is between $7,201 and $8,700, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 5%.
If your income range is $8,701 and over, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 5.5%.

Still higher than mine.

 

State tax in the northeast is generally around 5-6%. Some state 2% payroll tax, some not. But the states that are 2% usually have a state sales tax which equates to 7 or 8% cumulatively. Course if you live in Philly, you can add in another 5-6% city tax.

 

Well..either the state takes it or the corporations keep it. It amounts to the same net result for the working man. Either way the wealthy keep the majority of the cash.

 

I think that a 2% increase is 66.6666% of 3%...approximately anyway. Doesn't sound so large when you're not throwing around the 66% figure does it?

 

Well, I'm just glad Oklahoma hasn't raised our taxes, but then we're a very financially conservative state. I'll say a prayer for all the poor people in Illinois who didn't get a raise.

 

Yeah, that'll help.

 

It is not a huge of a deal as 66.7%% sounds, I agree. But, I don;t think it will go back to even 4% now that it is up to 5%. I would be more than shocked if that was allowed to transpire when the time actually comes.

 

That is the same problem I see. No way will they ever take back a tax that we are already paying. I do respect them for doing something to close the 13 billion dollar budget gap. Most politicians are too afraid of losing their precious jobs to risk doing what we all know needs to be done at this point. The only real possibility of paying off the state's debt is with increased revenue. They can cut all the spending they want and never come close to paying down the state's debt. It took courage to vote for this and only one Republican was able to muster up the balls to vote for the increase. So we'll all tighten our belts a little more and give our children a better future. It wasn't only the state democrats that got us into this situation but they are the ones leading us out of it.

In the face of a $13 billion budget deficit, Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday passed huge personal and corporate tax hikes in an effort to bring the state's budget back into balance.

The budget deficit must be addressed by June 30, the end of the state's fiscal year. Among the budget shortfalls are $6 billion in unpaid bills and a state pension plan that is drastically underfunded.
Lawmakers temporarily increased the personal income tax rate to 5 percent, from 3 percent, an increase of 67 percent. Corporate tax rates will go up by a more modest 46 percent, rising temporarily to 7 percent from 4.8 percent. Rates will drop in 2015, down to 3.75 percent on personal income and 5.2 percent on business income.
Tax rate increases are retroactive to the beginning of the year.
Lawmakers made other changes as well. Among them were a moratorium on new programs and a growth spending cap of 2 percent, except for school aid, which lawmakers gave that area an additional $700 million.
The changes are expected to close about half of the state's budget gap.
State senators passed the bill by a vote of 30-29 at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, while state representatives passed the bill earlier in the night by a vote of 60-57. After the Senate passed the bill, it voted to approve a plan passed earlier by the House to borrow $4 billion to cover what the state owes to public pension plans

 

My middle class family is sure taking a hit this year from the Dems but, at least with the tax hike in IL, I don't feel like a singled out scapegoat since everyone is being told to sacrifice. And many states are similar or much higher in income tax rates, anyway. The only place I can easily migrate to is Northern Kentucky and I think their rate is 6%. lol

 

You must be psychic:

Personally, since I don't live in Illiniois, it wouldn't bother me in the least if they raised income taxes there an additional 66%. Or 200%. Or 5000%. It would just pay off the deficit that much quicker. I wonder if the Democrats there would have the courage to do that. Not that I care..... just sayin'.

 

And when you increase the taxes, corporations and people move to cheaper states and your income goes down so you have to increase your taxes more so more move. Good luck. The only fix is going to be cut the spending.

And just when was the last time republicans had control of a single house (seriously, I do have a clue) and you have had a great string of governors.

Bankrupt and they are increasing spending. You have got to be kidding.

 

The starve the beast approach the Republicans embrace seems to have only created more problems both nationally and at a state level. It's easy to tell people what they want to hear but tougher to actually make the choices that cause pain across a wide swath of your constituency. The Republicans in this state are showing what they are made of and fortunately so are the Democrats. We'll have a better future because of the courage it took to vote for this tax increase and spending limits. It just takes more than voting NO all the time to fix some problems

 

Your opinion.

I believe that the fatten the beast approach only postpones the problems until they explode. The republicans are trying to handle the problems now before they become unmanageable - if they have not already.

 

Too late!

Henes Interview on Bankruptcy Proposal for States - Video - Bloomberg

 

Remember my comment about people and businesses leaving the state?

McHenry County Blog | Roger Keats Says Good-Bye to Crook County, Illinois

And then there is BO's pet about how good the economy is - AKA Caterpillar. http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-caterpillar-leaving-mar27,0,2069753.story. I am sure there are others