Colorado State Income Tax Burden

Colorado’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: $24,600.	7th highest
For single-parent families of three: $22,000.	6th highest
Colorado’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
For families of three or four with full-time minimum-wage earnings ($10,712): $324 refund.*	8th lowest
For families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028): $243 refund.*	6th lowest
For families of three with incomes at the poverty line ($13,290): $310 refund.*	6th lowest
For families of four with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285): $221 refund.*	3rd lowest
For families of three with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($16,613): $352 refund.*	4th lowest
Colorado has consistently exempted families with below-poverty earnings from the income tax. Colorado’s tax threshold increased in 1999 due to the enactment of a state Earned Income Tax Credit. In 1991, a family of four owed no tax until its income reached 3 percent above the poverty line. Colorado’s tax threshold is now 44 percent above the poverty line.
* Refund amounts reflect Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Credit; they do not include sales tax rebate.