2.1 Million, 34% of Tax Filers in Illinois Pay No Federal Income Tax

by Brian Costin An interesting study from the Tax Foundation released earlier this week showed that 34% of Illinois citizens who filed a tax return paid no taxes on their income, slightly below the national average of 36%. 2.1 Million out of the state’s 6.1 million filers were able to reduce their income tax liability to...

by Brian Costin

An interesting study from the Tax Foundation released earlier this week showed that 34% of Illinois citizens who filed a tax return paid no taxes on their income, slightly below the national average of 36%. 2.1 Million out of the state’s 6.1 million filers were able to reduce their income tax liability to zero.

From the Tax Foundation, “According to the latest IRS figures for 2008, a record 52 million filers—36 percent of the 143 million who filed a tax return—had no tax liability because their credits and deductions reduced their liability to zero.”

Below is a graph for Non-Payers by State.

Add to that the number of U.S. Households who don’t file taxes at all and the number of households who don’t pay federal income taxes rises to 47%.

These statistics are alarming.

When the government is taxing Peter to pay Paul, Paul generally will be happy to support the government programs that give him benefits but he didn’t have to pay for. If Paul has “skin in the game” and bears a financial burden of the costs of government it creates a financial incentive for Paul to be more concerned about the size, scope, and growth of government spending.

It makes me wonder if more voters had some “skin in the game” and shared the financial burden of paying federal income taxes, electoral decisions would reflect a much greater concern over the size and scope of our federal bureaucracy.