We retired Tax Justice Blog in April 2017. For new content on issues related to tax justice, go to www.justtaxesblog.org
Since 2004, Ohio lawmakers – from those living in the Governor’s mansion to those elected to the legislature – have pushed through numerous changes to the Buckeye state’s tax code. Since being elected in 2010, Gov. John Kasich has championed his own series of tax cuts including accelerating already scheduled income tax rate reductions and creating a special new tax break for “pass through” businesses, while providing much smaller tax breaks to low- and middle-income families. Now that Governor Kasich is running for reelection, informed voters ought to be asking, “What’s the cumulative impact of these changes?” After all, voters should know the impact of the tax-cut path their elected leaders have led them down.
Thanks to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio (which includes analyses from ITEP) we know the answer. The findings in the report are pretty staggering.
The tax changes combined are costing the state $3 billion and are currently reducing tax bills for the state’s most affluent 1 percent of taxpayers by more than $20,000 on average, while the bottom three-fifths of state taxpayers as a group are actually paying more taxes now, on average, than they would if these tax changes had not been enacted. It’s worth noting that the average benefit from these tax changes by the top 1 percent of Ohioans is actually greater than the income of the poorest twenty-percent of Ohioans.
In its editorial about the Policy Matters Ohio report, the Toledo Blade makes the case that “Ohioans needs a new tax policy that works for everyone, not just the wealthiest. It needs a tax system that is fairly based on ability to pay, not one that favors the already favored.” For more on the Ohio tax debate over the years, check out our Ohio page on the Tax Justice Blog.
