Tax rates on the Minnesota wealthy plummet

"The people who can issue the biggest sigh of tax relief are the 1 percent at the very top who earn $480,000 or more each year. They saw the biggest decline in tax burden and now pay the smallest share of income in non-federal taxes of any income group in the state." — Mankato Free Press

You've heard the oft-repeated phrase, "The rich get richer." While lower class and middle class wages have  been stuck in place, adjusted for inflation, for at least the last decade, the income of the upper crust has skyrocketed. Therefore they should be paying more taxes, right?

Wrong! At least in Minnesota.

See this chart from a report recently released by the think tank Minnesota 2020:

Quite clearly it illustrates (as of 2007, the last year complete data was available) that the effective tax rate for the top 1% of the wealthiest Minnesotans is fully 1.5% less than the lowest 20%, 2.3% less than the next 20%, and 2.6% less than the next 40%. Ironically, the tax system was more fair in 2000.

Middle-class folks have every right to be mad at the government because of taxes. But not because their taxes have gone up; the chart clearly shows they haven't. They should be mad at the government because those who can most afford to pay are actually paying less than they are.

Those advocating that government should act more like a business can start by insisting that the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of the tax burden.

— LP