Of all the truisms in politics, this one has held steady throughout my years of observation: No one notices when their tax burden falls. People don’t party in the streets or throw confetti from tall buildings when they get to keep more of their hard-earned money gradually, over a period of years. We typically don’t notice anything that happens gradually, except maybe weight gain and hair loss.
And yet, according to a new report from the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, Utah had the sixth-largest overall decrease in tax burden between the years of 2007 and 2016, the latest year for which detailed figures are available.
There, don’t you feel happier?
The decrease was driven by Utah experiencing the third-highest increase in personal income nationwide during that same time, and by its growing population. You’re getting richer, even though your life is getting more crowded with people.
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