To: The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate, and Governor Tom Wolf
Graduated Income Tax Constitutional Amendment
We, the undersigned, call upon the Governor to propose, and the Legislature to pass, a constitutional amendment, authorizing the Commonwealth to tax income at different marginal rates, increasing with higher levels of disposable income. The marginal brackets for each tax rate will be based on fixed multiples of the state poverty level, automatically adjusting the marginal brackets for inflation, and for the cost of living.
Why is this important?
Of all the states in the northeast which maintain an income tax, Pennsylvania is the only one which is restrained constitutionally to a simple flat tax. Unlike the federal income tax, which allows for deductions of other taxes, business and investment losses, and some of the expenses of running a household, the Pennsylvania income tax falls most heavily on the poor and on small business. Unlike other state income taxes in the area, the flat tax makes no allowance for higher tax rates on discretionary disposable income, not devoted to necessities.