A Decade of Change: Wisconsin’s Income Tax Since 2012

Wisconsin’s income tax, the largest source of revenue for state government, has undergone significant change since 2012. This report, A Decade of Change: Wisconsin’s Income Tax Since 2012, explores the impact of the many tax rate cuts on taxpayers and on Wisconsin’s tax rank nationally. It also examines how the state’s changing demographics have impacted affected collections.

“We wanted to thoroughly look at the effects of recent income tax cuts,” said Forward Analytics Director Dale Knapp. “While these cuts aimed to help Wisconsinites, they also boosted the state’s tax competitiveness. However, this improvement was less dramatic than anticipated due to similar tax cuts in other states.”

The rate cuts were highest in percentage terms for single filers with incomes under $48,000 and married-joint filers with incomes less than $68,000. Savings generally declined with income with lower income filers receiving cuts of 24% or more while those with the highest incomes seeing taxes reduced by 8% or less.

The rate cuts generally improved the state’s national ranking, though the improvement was less than might be expected as many other states cut taxes during these years. When comparing income tax collections per capita and relative to personal income, the state saw solid improvement. It’s ranking dropped from 9th to 29th relative to personal income, and 13th to 26th per capita.

Find the entire Forward Analytics Report here: A Decade of Change: Wisconsin’s Income Tax Since 2012.
Listen to the #LocalGovMatters podcast on the report here.