California State Income Tax Burden

California’s 1999 income tax threshold — the income level at which families begin paying income tax:	Ranking among 42 states with income taxes
For two-parent families of four: $35,500.	Highest
For single-parent families of three: $33,700.	Highest
California’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
No tax on families with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028 for family of four, $13,290 for family of three).
No tax on families of three or four with full-time minimum-wage earnings ($11,960).
No tax on families with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285 for family of four, $16,613 for family of three).
The only states with more favorable income tax treatment of working-poor and near-poor families are states that have refundable income tax credits.
California has consistently exempted families with below-poverty earnings from the income tax. California’s tax threshold has remained well above the poverty line in the 1990s. (See chart.) In 1991, a family of four owed no tax until its income reached 50 percent above the poverty line. California’s tax threshold is now more than double the poverty line.