Materials

Read the Letters recently sent to Legislators with regard to the budget shortfall and raising taxes:
Catholic Bishops' Letter
Lutheran Bishops' Letter
JRLC's Letter

Every two years the Minnesota Department of Revenue publishes a Tax Incidence Report (this mandated report is a direct result of JRLC's Taxes and Justice issue paper and our advocacy in the 1990 session). This report shows the effective tax rates paid by households by income category. The analysis includes all state and local taxes, including business taxes. It answers the questions, Is Minnesota's tax system fair? Is the tax system based on ability to pay?

The 2009 Tax Incidence Report includes estimates for taxes to be paid in 2011. The chart and table below use data from the report and show the regressivity of Minnesota's overall system; the poorest pay the highest rates (especially in property taxes and in sales taxes) while the richest households pay an effective tax rate lower than the average household.

JRLC, as part of its work with the Invest in Minnesota campaign, publishes a business card-sized summary of the 2009 Tax Incidence Report, distilling mountains of information into the above graph and table showing the overall fairness of Minnesota's state and local tax system. You can download these cards (for 2-sided reproduction) or you can order quantities of rigid plastic cards by contacting us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . These cards are great conversation-starters with neighbors and friends. Donations to cover costs of the plastic cards are appreciated.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits invited JRLC executive director Brian Rusche to make a few comments in the Capitol Rotunda during its Nonprofits Day at the Capitol on February 5, 2009. What Brian said.

The Every Child Matters Education Fund released its national April 2008 report, "Geography Matters: Child Well-Being in the States." The report identifies Minnesota as having the 8th best overall ranking on child well-being indicators and the 11th highest total tax burden. When looking at the state data, the correlation between high-tax states and overall child well-being is striking.

 
A Federal Perspective
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report on April 10, 2007 documenting that federal tax burdens are at their lowest level in decades. Check out their brief report here .

The report shows that most income groups paid a smaller share of their income in federal taxes in 2003 and 2004 than in any previous year for which data are available, back to 1979. The report uses non-partisan Congressional Budget Office data.