States with no income tax had a surplus or no deficit in 2012

States that don’t have an income tax manage to stay out of the red, and many are even operating with budget surpluses. Texas, for example, currently foresees and $8.8 billion surplus over its current two-year budget cycle.

Ben VanMetre
Senior Budget and Tax Policy Analyst

Proponents of a progressive income tax in Illinois claim that another multibillion dollar tax increase would finally give lawmakers enough revenue to fill the state’s massive budget hole. Americans for Prosperity recently put together some data showing that higher taxes aren’t needed to curb Illinois’ budget deficit.

In fact, states that don’t have an income tax manage to stay out of the red, and many are even operating with budget surpluses. Texas, for example, currently foresees an $8.8 billion surplus over its current two-year budget cycle.

So don’t let tax-hike advocates fool you when they say Illinois needs a progressive income tax in order to operate in today’s 21st century economy. Instead of competing with states such as Hawaii and California for the steepest and most complicated tax rates, Illinois should look to Texas, Florida, and Washington.  These states are already operating in today’s modern economy, and doing so much better than Illinois.