Wealthiest Minnesotans got $44,000 tax cut

As many Minnesotans scramble to file their tax returns before tonight?s midnight deadline, a national group has released figures showing a widening gap between the wealthiest taxpayers ? and the rest of us.

The richest one percent of those in Minnesota, whose average income was $860,000 last year, got an average tax cut of $44,012 in 2003, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, a national watchdog group. In contrast, 44 percent of Minnesotans got less than $100 from the tax cuts instituted by the Bush administration.

The gap between those who benefit and those who don?t will grow in coming years, the group predicted.

?Next year, nearly 7 in 10 will get less than $100. And by 2006, 85 percent of Minnesota taxpayers, roughly 2.1 million Minnesotans, will get less than $100 from the changes in federal tax law.

?For the wealthiest one percent of taxpayers, the Bush administration?s tax cuts will provide $79.4 billion in 2004 alone. Over the next five years, the Bush administration?s tax cuts will provide the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers an enormous $371 billion windfall.?

The $400 increase in the child care tax credit, designed to benefit low- and middle-income families, is not helping as many families as it should because of a loophole in the tax changes, Citizens for Tax Justice said. The Bush administration failed to include more than 6.5 million families in the United States with approximately 11.9 million children ? and the oversight has not been corrected. Those who won?t earn the higher tax credit are families who pay taxes and earn between $10,500 and $26,625.

The figures are sure to ignite more debate about tax policy in this presidential election year. They also come at a time when the State of Minnesota is facing a budget crunch because of declining revenues. This week the state announced that tax income from corporations has fallen, despite that fact that corporate profits have reached record levels.

For more information
Visit the Citizens for Tax Justice website, www.ctj.org

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