A fair tax system should help to close the gap between the rich and everyone else. But in Hawaiʻi, our current system is making inequality worse.
Our state’s tax system asks the least from those who have the most. Hawaiʻi’s wealthiest residents pay the lowest portion of their income on taxes, while low- and moderate-income families pay the highest.
A regressive tax system is one where lower-income families pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than wealthy families. This often happens because flat taxes on things like groceries take up a bigger chunk of a working family's budget.
Programs like the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit support families that are struggling to survive. They put tax money back in the pockets of these low-income and ALICE households, which helps them pay for their basic needs.
The top 1% should pay more towards the programs and services that we all benefit from. Corporations also profit from Hawai’i’s land and culture—while barely giving back to the communities they are located in.