Flat is Fair

State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, recently revealed a new progressive tax proposal with rates that hit Illinois’ middle and working classes hard. Under current Illinois law, the individual income tax rate will be 3.75 percent in 2015. Under Jakobsson’s new plan, however, a higher 4 percent rate kicks in for people earning just $18,000. That income tax...

State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, recently revealed a new progressive tax proposal with rates that hit Illinois’ middle and working classes hard.

Under current Illinois law, the individual income tax rate will be 3.75 percent in 2015. Under Jakobsson’s new plan, however, a higher 4 percent rate kicks in for people earning just $18,000. That income tax rate targets Illinois’ working class.

But Jakobsson’s progressive tax rates attack the middle class as well. Her 5 percent tax rate applies to people earning just $36,000. When an Illinoisan earns more than $58,000, Jakobsson’s tax rates jump to 6 percent, and again to 7 percent on income earned after $95,000 – nearly double the rate Illinoisans will pay in 2015.

It’s no surprise that Jakobsson’s progressive tax hike proposal targets the middle class – it’s how progressive income taxes work. That’s where a lot of the money is.

Just look at where the top progressive tax rates – the rates that are supposed to “make the rich pay their fair share” – start in other states.

In Georgia, the top tax rate of 6 percent is applied to all income earned above $7,000. In Idaho, the top rate of 7.4 percent kicks in at $10,350. And in Maine, the top rate of 6.84 percent starts at $20,900.

So don’t be fooled when lawmakers say a progressive income tax will only affect high-income earners. The newly proposed rates in Illinois make it clear that lawmakers are gearing up to raise tax rates on Illinois’ working- and middle-class residents.

Here is my email exchange with State Rep. Jakobsson, which confirms the rates listed above are correct.

Join the growing community of Illinoisans dedicated to stopping the next income tax hike. 

Contribute today, and a group of committed supporters will double your gift — $25 becomes $50, $50 becomes $100, and so on.