LePage income tax plan punishes poor while enriching wealthy Mainers, advocates say

However, economic reports show that LePage-style economics significantly increase taxes for the bottom 80% of Maine families while enriching the wealthiest. In some instances under LePage’s tax policies, Maine’s richest have avoided more than $20,000 in taxes while the bottom 80% have paid an average of $85 more.

“The income tax is the only broad tax in Maine that balances out the other taxes like sales and property taxes that ask more of low and middle income households,” said Sarah Austin, director of policy and research at the Maine Center for Economic Policy.

In Maine, income taxes account for -1.6% of total family income for the bottom 20% of families. For the top 1% of families, it accounts for 5.4%.

Click here to read the full story, first published February 22, 2022, in Beacon.