Arkansas Definition of Poor is Schizophrenic
Posted on March 7th, 2009
When it comes to collecting taxes, the Arkansas government thinks that “rich” (the top state income tax rate) is $31,700. Conversely, when it comes to handing out tax dollars, they think that you are “poor” if you are a family of five with a household income of $62,000. The median household income in Arkansas is $38,134. This means that half of the households in Arkansas have a greater income and half have less.
Why does a person making $3,799 per year have to pay tax so that money can be transferred by social welfare programs to another person making $26,000 per year?
Arkansas collects income taxes from its residents at the following rates: [Source]
- – 1 percent on the first $3,799 of taxable income
- – 2.5 percent on taxable income between $3,800 and $7,599
- – 3.5 percent on taxable income between $7,600 and $11,399
- – 4.5 percent on taxable income between $11,400 and $18,999
- – 6 percent on taxable income between $19,000 and $31,699
- – 7 percent on all taxable income more than $31,700.
Keep in mind that when reading the chart below, these values are TAXABLE income, NOT GROSS income. Once standard and other deductions are included, these numbers are quite a bit higher.
2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines [Source]
| Persons in Family | Federal Poverty Level | 250% Poverty |
| 1 | $10,400 | $26,000 |
| 2 | $14,000 | $35,000 |
| 3 | $17,600 | $44,000 |
| 4 | $21,200 | $53,000 |
| 5 | $24,800 | $62,000 |
| 6 | $28,400 | $71,000 |
| 7 | $32,000 | $80,000 |
| 8 | $35,600 | $89,000 |
| Duggars (18) | $71,600 | $179,000 |
Tags: economic policy, taxes
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