Thread by @RichardDaleT

Whoever is running this account is clearly no taxpayer advocate, is not part of any "alliance", and is clearly hostile to #TABOR. They also either don't understand taxation or are not above spreading misinformation. #copolitics #coleg

Note that they call for a "progressive (tiered) income tax" to "fix Colorado's outrageous tax code". The graphic purports to show that the bottom 20% pays more income taxes by implication. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

So I looked at the source they gave. Leaving aside that it's from a white paper published by a lefty think tank (part of #TheProgressiveAdvantage) using data from another lefty think tank, it shows something different. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

The source for the graphic shows that yes, those in the lowest income brackets pay more in TOTAL TAX BURDEN - which includes sales and use taxes, property taxes and income taxes - than the top 1%. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

The total tax burden for the top 1% is less. And this is because the lower income cohort pays more, percentage-wise, than the top cohort. This is why sales and use taxes are "regressive". Everybody knows this. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

When you look at the table, however, you see that in terms of INCOME TAXES alone, the top 1% pays 3.5% before federal deductions, as opposed to the lower cohort which pays 0.7%. In other words, the rich pay MORE in income taxes. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

And this is despite the flat 4.63% income tax rate we have in Colorado, which is truly the fairest method of taxing income.

Note that I am taking this lefty source at face value. Here's the table. See for yourself. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

TABOR protects all Coloradans equally from tax increases, and protects the poor especially from increases in the sales and use taxes, which they proportionately pay more of. #copolitics #coleg #TABOR

Note also that Proposition 110, which would have increased sales and use taxes in 2018 failed by almost a 20% margin. Colorado voters clearly said "NO". This is why #TABOR is so important. #copolitics #coleg