While the Texas Legislature debates how to rein in rising property taxes, it bears mentioning that homeowners aren't the only Texans feeling the tax pinch.
Indeed, folks who can't afford to buy homes often feel it the worst.
From a tax perspective, low-income earners fare worse in the Lone Star State than just about anywhere else in the nation, according to recent study from WalletHub. Analyzing data from the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, the financial site found that Texas is the 8th-worst state for low-income individuals when it comes to taxes.
Texans who make $25,000 a year (low-income earners, for the purpose of this study) can expect taxes to eat up more than 11 percent of their income, compared to just 10 percent for those with an annual $50,000 salary (middle-income earners). Meanwhile, those earning $150,000 a year (high-income earners) only lose 7 percent to the taxman.
But aren't Texas politicos always telling us how low our taxes are and how lucky we are not to have a state income tax like those liberal chumps in California?
The dismal tax situation for low-income Texans comes down to how much the state relies on income and property taxes to fill its coffers. Those regressive taxation methods place a heavier financial strain on low- or mid-income earners than they do on the wealthy.
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