MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new study finds that Wisconsin's tax burden has dropped to a nearly 50-year low.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum report released Wednesday examines state and local taxes as a share of personal income. The report says that taxes accounted for 10.5 percent of income, down slightly from 10.6 percent last year.
That marks the seventh straight year of declines. It's the lowest level going back to 1970, the earliest on record for the nonpartisan group.
The report says that the tax burden dropped primarily because personal income grew more quickly than did taxes. Income was up 3.6 percent while state and local taxes grew by 2.3 percent and federal taxes went up 0.7 percent.
The report says the tax burden is at its nearly 50-year low thanks largely to rising incomes, low unemployment and state-imposed property tax limits and cuts.
