Delaware

Some Families in Delaware With Incomes Just Below the Poverty Line Remain Subject to the Income Tax

 

Delaware'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: $16,100.	19th lowest
For single-parent families of three: $13,400.	19th lowest
Delaware's 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
For families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028): $50.	17th highest
No tax on families of three with incomes at the poverty line ($13,290).
For families of four with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285): $271.	16th highest
For families of three with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($16,613): $169.	16th highest
Despite progress, Delaware continues to tax families with incomes at the poverty line. In 1991, a family of four owed tax when its income exceeded 62 percent of the poverty line. Delaware's tax threshold is now 95 percent of the poverty line. Tax law changes scheduled to take effect in 2000 are likely to raise the threshold above the poverty line, depending on the level of inflation adjustments to the poverty line.