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Think Tank: New Ohio Tax Cuts Benefit The Wealthy
By: Lewis Wallace | Ohio Public Radio • WYSO
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Ohio’s looking at an $800 million surplus at the end of its fiscal year, and Gov. John Kasich has been touting $400 million in tax cuts in the latest mid-term budget. But not everyone’s happy with those cuts.
Left-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio finds most of the benefits of the latest round of tax cuts will actually go to wealthy Ohioans.
According to estimates based on a model, the poorest 20 percent of Ohioans will see an average tax cut of $4 per year, while the richest residents could see upwards of $1,800 per year.
"I think that what we’re seeing here is a further shift in an already regressive tax system where the people who can afford to pay are in fact benefitting the most from tax cuts," said Zach Schiller, who directs research at Policy Matters. "The people who are having a harder time getting along are getting very little out of it."
A report out this week finds that’s largely because of an expansion of an income-tax deduction for business income, much of which goes to investors and part-owners.
Of the estimated $400 million of tax savings in this year’s budget, Policy Matters finds 50 percent of that money will go to people with incomes in the top 5 percent.