Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Treats Poor Families Under Its Income Tax Better Than Most Other States

 

Pennsylvania’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: $26,000.	2nd highest (tie)
For single-parent families of three: $19,500.	10th highest
Pennsylvania’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
No tax on families with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028 for family of four, $13,290 for family of three).
No tax on families of three or four with full-time minimum-wage earnings ($10,712).
No tax on families with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285 for family of four, $16,613 for family of three).
The only states with more favorable income tax treatment of working-poor and near-poor families than Pennsylvania are states that have refundable income tax credits.
Pennsylvania has substantially increased its income tax threshold in the last three years. In 1991, a family of four owed tax when its income exceeded 70 percent of the poverty line. Pennsylvania’s tax threshold has now risen 53 percent above the poverty line.