Report: Wisconsin’s drop in tax rank among nation’s largest

According to a new report from Wisconsin Policy Forum, almost no state has seen a greater drop in its tax burden than Wisconsin over the past 20 years. Depending on how it is measured, the drop in Wisconsin’s state and local taxes as a share of personal income was the largest or nearly the largest nationally since 1999. Defined as annual taxes paid to state and local governments as a percentage of residents’ income, the Wisconsin Policy Forum has been tracking this metric over time. In 1999, state and local governments took in $17.4 billion from taxpayers —about 12.2% of total personal income in the state (the fourth-highest percentage in the country) and $3,288 per capita (sixth-highest). By 2019, the $30.6 billion in total taxes accounted for just 10.3% of personal income (23rd in the nation) and $5,275 per capita (24th). Under both metrics, the 2019 tax burden was below the national average.