California's Regressive Tax System
By Robert CruickshankThe California Budget Project is out with answers to the question "Who pays taxes in California?" As their report makes clear, there's another question that is equally important - "who doesn't pay taxes in California?" What the CBP numbers reveal is a state where the tax burden is borne by the poorest, in order to let the richest escape their obligations.
Measured as a share of family income, California's lowest-income families pay the most in taxes. The poorest fifth of the state's non-elderly families, with an average income of $13,200, spent 11.1 percent of their income on state taxes. In comparison, the wealthiest 1 percent, with an average income of $2.2 million, spent 7.8 percent of their income on state taxes.
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