Report finds Wisconsinites continue to see their tax burden grow

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• Link to Wisconsin Taxpayer's Alliance Web site

In 2007 Wisconsin taxpayers paid 35 cents of every dollar they earned to federal, state and local taxes.

They also paid more in taxes in 2007 than in 2006 --- the fourth year in a row the tax burden increased, according to a report by the non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayer's Alliance.

The report called Wisconsin's Total Taxes: 2007 showed that in 2007 federal, state, and local taxes and fees took 34.7 percent of a Wisconsin resident's income, up from 33.7 percent in 2006.

"The trend we are seeing is an increase in Wisconsin's tax burden every year since 2003 when the tax burden was at 30.7 percent," said Penny Durham, one of the report's authors.

The biggest amount paid by state taxpayers was in 2000 when taxes claimed 36.8 percent of an individual's income.

In 2007, federal taxes jumped the most, going up 10.8 percent and claiming 65 percent of state resident's tax burden.

State taxes and fees jumped up 3.9 percent and that's down from 7.9 percent in 2006.

Meanwhile, local taxes grew at just 3 percent in 2007 and the group says that local taxes are the least volatile of all taxes.

However, the biggest tax paid by Wisconsinites is property tax and that grew by 4.6 percent in 2007.

"Property taxes grew less than in previous years because of increases in the school levy credit (state aid to schools) and the lottery credit," Durham said.

Durham added that without the increases in those two credits the property tax burden would have jumped 4.9 percent.

It's not just individual state residents paying more, according to the report.

Corporate income taxes grew 14.1 percent in 2007 to $890.1 million which was a record and the fifth consecutive year of showing an increase in this category.

"In general corporate income taxes mirror the health of the economy. When there are increases it tends to show healthy economic times, because when corporations earn more they pay more in taxes," Durham said.

Not all revenues from taxes went up in 2007.

The report found that less money was generated from real estate transfer fees because of slower home sales.

Cigarette tax revenues also declined, dropping 1.8 percent to $296.1 million due to less smoking, according to the report.

Get more information on the Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance Web site at www.wistax.org.

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