In Pennsylvania, state taxes bite low- and middle-income households harder than they do affluent households. That’s the finding of a recent from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

According to the report, the poorest fifth of Pennsylvanians pay more than 11% of their income on state and local taxes. Those in the middle-income bracket pay nearly 10%. But the state’s wealthiest residents pay just 5%. Compare that to neighboring New Jersey, where the difference between what the richest and  poorest pay is around 1%. In Delaware, the top tier pays just half a percent less in taxes of their overall earnings than lower income people.

Read the rest of this entry »