In 1968, the households in the top earning 20% received 43% of all the earned income in the country. By 2018, the top 20% of households (those earning above $130,000) brought in 52% of all earned income. This, not incidentally, was more than the lower 80% combined.
Dan Smolnik
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut sales tax revenue numbers reveal the rich-poor income gap
The state sales tax revenue data for 2020 reflect unexpectedly robust March revenue, and a slightly weaker April than in some recent years. While headlines have focused on the April slump as a sign of the impending fiscal apocalypse, I will try to unpack the March revenue with an eye toward one of its likely sources and why that source may signal continued economic polarization in Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut municipalities should consider ways to help save their small businesses
The trifecta of extended compulsory closing of businesses, the removal of trillions of dollars of cash from circulation, and a near-zero federal funds rate has rearranged the economic landscape of states, cities, and towns across America in a way that is likely to disrupt and slow recovery efforts after the social effects of the pandemic have passed.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
One town’s income polarization much like Connecticut’s
Parts of Hamden are relegated to a perpetual cycle of poverty. economic loss, food insecurity and other problems. It is hardly the only town like that in Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Best of 2019: CT residents move to the cities, taking taxes with them
In the blink of an eye, most towns in Connecticut will be expecting the next property tax check from property owners. And most people writing those checks will ask themselves, as they do semi-annually, “just what am I paying for?”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CT residents move to the cities, taking taxes with them
In the blink of an eye, most towns in Connecticut will be expecting the next property tax check from property owners. And most people writing those checks will ask themselves, as they do semi-annually, “just what am I paying for?”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
This is Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day
January 26 is this year’s Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day. Awareness is important to the success of this program, for both the families and the communities it serves. As a tax attorney and Connecticut’s representative to the IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, I want to share information about the importance of the EITC.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The Citizens’ Election Program gives a voice to thousands of citizens
The National Institute on Money in State Politics released data on Sept. 26 demonstrating an important issue. The residents of Connecticut whose voices will be lost are why the Citizens’ Election Program must be protected.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CT takes fewer taxes from corporations than individuals
I have recently had the privilege of serving on a legislative commission studying Connecticut tax policy. In doing some initial calculations, I observed that our state appears to derive a surprisingly low portion of its total tax revenue from corporate income taxes compared to some other states. Compared to a cohort of other states including New England and all of the east, Connecticut tax policy has looked, over time, substantially less to corporations for revenue and increasingly more to individuals and households.