Alabama

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

 

Alabama’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: $4,600.	Lowest
For single-parent families of three: $4,600.	Lowest
Alabama’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
For families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028): $423.	2nd highest
For families of three with incomes at the poverty line ($13,290): $343.	Highest
For families of three with minimum-wage earnings ($10,712): $218.	2nd highest
For families of three with incomes at 125% of poverty line ($16,613): $513.	4th highest
For families of four with incomes at 125% of poverty line ($21,285): $603.	5th highest
Alabama has consistently taxed families with incomes well below the poverty line. Alabama’s tax threshold for families of four has not changed during the 1990s. Taxes owed by a family with poverty-level income increased between 1994 and 1999. In 1991, a family of four owed tax when its income exceeded 33 percent of the poverty line. By 1999, Alabama’s tax threshold dropped to 27 percent of the poverty line.