North Carolina State Income Tax Burden

North Carolina’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: $17,000.	23rd highest
For single-parent families of three: $13,900.	23rd highest
North Carolina’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
Tax on families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028): $2.	20th highest
No tax on families of three with incomes at the poverty line ($13,290).
No tax on families of three or four with full-time minimum-wage earnings ($10,712).
For families of four with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285): $257.	17th highest
For families of three with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($16,613): $164.	17th highest
North Carolina taxed families at the poverty line in 1999 for the first time since 1994. From 1995 to 1998, North Carolina’s tax threshold for families of four was above the poverty line. (See chart.) Because the state did not act to increase the threshold, North Carolina now levies a small tax on families of four with poverty-level incomes.