Virginia


Poor Families in Virginia Are Hit Harder by the Income Tax Than Those in Other States

 

Virginia’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: $8,200.

4th lowest

    For single-parent families of three: $5,400.

4th lowest


Virginia’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
    For families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028): $311.

6th highest

    For families of three with incomes at the poverty line ($13,290): $265.

3rd highest

    For families of three with minimum-wage earnings ($10,712): $135.

5th highest

    For families of four with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285): $525.

6th highest

    For families of three with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($16,613): $431.

5th highest


Virginia has consistently taxed families with incomes below the poverty line.

Virginia’s tax threshold for families of four has not changed during the 1990s. Taxes owed by a family of four with poverty-level income increased between 1994 and 1999.

In 1991, a family of four owed tax when its income exceeded 59 percent of the poverty line. For 1999, Virginia’s tax threshold is 48 percent of the poverty line.

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