Tax the rich. That might be one way to make Virginia's income tax more progressive, according to a new report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. It mapped out ways to reduce the burden on low-income people while leaning more on wealthy people to balance the books.
Justin Brown led the team at JLARC that looked at Virginia's antiquated tax brackets. They were fine 30 years ago. But now people earn more and the brackets are still the same. "Experts call this bracket creep," he explained.
That bracket creep means low-income people are forced to bear a disproportionate share of the burden.
"The income brackets in Virginia have been the same in dollar terms since 1990. And for a year or two that's not a big issue. But over the long term it has a pretty big impact," Brown noted. "Income goes up over time but the brackets haven't."
Now those brackets might be shifting. Next year, lawmakers are poised to take a hard look at those brackets, and the commission is mapping out the potential options to make the income tax more progressive.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
