Colorado


Colorado Treats Poor Families Under Its Income Tax Better Than Most States

 

 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.

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