Election season is underway once again and you're probably seeing ads from politicians here in Texas that brag about how Texas is a "low tax" state and that's one of the reasons thousands of Californians are moving to the Lone Star State. But as we all know, politicians LIE or can make things "sound better" than what they seem and a recent study found out that Texas is not telling the WHOLE TRUTH when it comes to taxes.

Get our free mobile app

A popular post on Instagram From "Progress For The People" displayed a graphic that explained how Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do, unless those Texans are in the top one percent of all earners.

According to The Houston Chronicle, the graphic reportedly contains 2018 data from the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which compiled statistics regarding IRS income tax, sales tax, property tax, and information from Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau.

Basically, Unless You're In The 1% in Texas That Makes A Lot Of Money, You're paying MORE in Taxes Than Californians.

For Texans Who Make Less Than $21,000 Annually

According to ITEP, Texans whose salaries fall into the lowest 20 percent of income earners (making less than $20,900 annually) pay about 13 percent of their income in state and local taxes. Meanwhile, Californians in the bottom 20 percent (making less than $23,200 annually) pay 10.5 percent.

As For Middle Class Texans...

In Texas, the middle 20 percent of income earners ($35,800-$56,000) pay 9.7 percent in state and local taxes in contrast to middle income Californians ($39,100-$62,300), who only pay 8.9 percent.

But The Truth Comes Out When It Comes To Rich People In Texas...

The top 1 percent of earners in Texas ($617,900 or more) pay 3.1 percent of their income in contrast to top earnings in California ($714,400 or more) who pay 12.4 percent.

Despite the finding being published 4 years ago, not much has changed.

ITEP also ranked Texas as the second-most regressive tax state, behind Washington State, due to low-income taxpayers bearing a disproportionate share of the tax burden. Just because Texas doesn't have a "state income tax" doesn't mean that they aren't sticking it to you in other ways. In contrast, California was ranked the most progressive tax state because residents in higher tax brackets predominantly pay higher tax rates.

If you're wondering why all the "rich and famous" are suddenly choosing Texas as their home state to live in, this is why. In my opinion, Texas politicians have been able to get away with selling the middle class and poor on "opportunity" because of "low taxes" but in reality, the poor and middle class are CARRYING THE LOAD to finance the state.