Home Report: End to Bush tax cuts only affects very wealthy
Local

Report: End to Bush tax cuts only affects very wealthy

Contributors

Virginia Organizing and Americans for Tax Fairness released a report this week that shows less than 4 percent of Virginia taxpayers will be affected by ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans, those who make over $250,000.

The report notes that the 3.9 percent of taxpayers who will be affected have average incomes of nearly $609,000; the remaining 96 percent make an average of $63,000 per year.

Later this week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on S. 3412, a bill to extend tax cuts to those with incomes below $250,000, but end those cuts for incomes above this mark. Nationwide, those with incomes above $250,000 account for only 2 percent of the population.

“This plan just makes sense,” said Virginia Organizing leader Tim McCarthy of Virginia Beach. “The wealthiest 4 percent of Virginians need to pay their fair share. We will never reduce the debt and pay for the things our country and our state need, like roads and schools, unless we start asking those at the top to contribute.”

The report also shows how much more or less Virginians at various income levels would pay under tax plans that extend or do not extend the cuts for the wealthiest. Taxpayers with incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 would only pay about $660 more in taxes if S. 3412 passes the House and is signed into law. Taxpayers in the wealthiest 1 percent, with incomes over $500,000 per year, would see the highest increase in taxes, while those with incomes below $250,000 would see no difference or a slight decrease in taxes.

The full report (along with charts and graphs) may be found at www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/VA.pdf.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.