State Personal Income Tax Rates and Brackets 2014 Update

6 min readBy: Lyman Stone

Download FISCAL FACT No. 422: State Income Tax Rates and Brackets 2014

Key Findings

  • State income taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. systems have significant variation in structure, rates, deductions, and exemptions, including 9 states with no income tax on wages and 8 with flat income taxes.
  • North Carolina became a flat taxAn income tax is referred to as a “flat tax” when all taxable income is subject to the same tax rate, regardless of income level or assets. state, moving from three brackets to just one. Massachusetts, another flat tax state, reduced its rate slightly.
  • Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin all made across-the-board income tax rate reductions relative to 2013 rates.
  • Minnesota added a high-earner tax bracket of 9.85 percent on income over $152,540 for single filers.
Income taxes are a major, and often complicated, component of state revenues. Furthermore, unlike sales or excise taxes which individuals pay indirectly, income taxes are levied directly on individuals, meaning that income taxes figure especially prominently in any discussion of tax burdens and public policies.
Income taxes are structured in many different ways throughout the states. Some are flat systems with one rate for all income, others offer progressive systems taxing different levels of income at different rates, while some states have no income tax at all. Some states abide by principles of sound tax policy and double bracket widths for married filers and index tax bracketsA tax bracket is the range of incomes taxed at given rates, which typically differ depending on filing status. In a progressive individual or corporate income tax system, rates rise as income increases. There are seven federal individual income tax brackets; the federal corporate income tax system is flat. for inflationInflation is when the general price of goods and services increases across the economy, reducing the purchasing power of a currency and the value of certain assets. The same paycheck covers less goods, services, and bills. It is sometimes referred to as a “hidden tax,” as it leaves taxpayers less well-off due to higher costs and “bracket creep,” while increasing the government’s spending power. , while others fail to adopt these measures. Some states offer generous standard deductions and personal exemptions, allowing taxpayers to adjust income based on household size, while others don’t. Below, we provide the most updated data available, as of publication date, on current state tax rates and brackets, standard deductions, and per-filer personal exemptions for individuals filing singly.

State Individual Income Tax Rates

As of January 1, 2014

State

Rates

Brackets

Standard Deduction

Personal Exemption

Alabama (e, f)

2.00%

>

$0

$2,500

$1,500

4.00%

>

$500

5.00%

>

$3,000

Alaska

No Income Tax

Arizona

2.59%

>

$0

$4,945

$2,100

2.88%

>

$10,000

3.36%

>

$25,000

4.24%

>

$50,000

4.54%

>

$150,000

Arkansas (c, d)

1.00%

>

$0

$2,000

$26 credit

2.50%

>

$4,199

3.50%

>

$8,299

4.50%

>

$12,399

6.00%

>

$20,699

7.00%

>

$34,599

California (a, d)

1.00%

>

$0

$3,906

$106 credit

2.00%

>

$7,582

4.00%

>

$17,976

6.00%

>

$28,371

8.00%

>

$39,384

9.30%

>

$49,774

10.30%

>

$254,250

11.30%

>

$305,100

12.30%

>

$508,500

13.30%

>

$1,000,000

Colorado

4.63% of federal taxable income

Connecticut

3.00%

>

$0

N/A

$14,000

5.00%

>

$10,000

5.50%

>

$50,000

6.00%

>

$100,000

6.50%

>

$200,000

6.70%

>

$250,000

Delaware (f)

2.20%

>

$2,000

$3,250

$110 credit

3.90%

>

$5,000

4.80%

>

$10,000

5.20%

>

$20,000

5.55%

>

$25,000

6.60%

>

$60,000

Florida

No Income Tax

Georgia

1.00%

>

$0

$2,300

$2,700

2.00%

>

$750

3.00%

>

$2,250

4.00%

>

$3,750

5.00%

>

$5,250

6.00%

>

$7,000

Hawaii

1.40%

>

$0

$2,200

$1,144

3.20%

>

$2,400

5.50%

>

$4,800

6.40%

>

$9,600

6.80%

>

$14,400

7.20%

>

$19,200

7.60%

>

$24,000

7.90%

>

$36,000

8.25%

>

$48,000

9.00%

>

$150,000

10.00%

>

$175,000

11.00%

>

$200,000

Idaho (a, d)

1.60%

>

$0

$6,200

$3,900

3.60%

>

$1,408

4.10%

>

$2,817

5.10%

>

$4,226

6.10%

>

$5,635

7.10%

>

$7,044

7.40%

>

$10,567

Illinois

5% of federal adjusted gross income with modification

$2,125

Indiana (f)

3.4% of federal adjusted gross income with modification

$1,000

Iowa (d, e)

0.36%

>

$0

$1,900

$40 credit

0.72%

>

$1,515

2.43%

>

$3,030

4.50%

>

$6,060

6.12%

>

$13,635

6.48%

>

$22,725

6.80%

>

$30,300

7.92%

>

$45,450

8.98%

>

$68,175

Kansas (f)

2.70%

>

$0

$3,000

$2,250

4.80%

>

$15,000

Kentucky (f)

2.00%

>

$0

$2,360

$20 credit

3.00%

>

$3,000

4.00%

>

$4,000

5.00%

>

$5,000

5.80%

>

$8,000

6.00%

>

$75,000

Louisiana (e)

2.00%

>

$0

$4,500

$1,000

4.00%

>

$12,500

6.00%

>

$50,000

Maine (d, h)

6.50%

>

$5,200

$6,100

$3,900

7.95%

>

$20,900

Maryland (f)

2.00%

>

$0

$2,000

$3,200

3.00%

>

$1,000

4.00%

>

$2,000

4.75%

>

$3,000

5.00%

>

$100,000

5.25%

>

$125,000

5.50%

>

$150,000

5.75%

>

$250,000

Massachusetts

5.20%

>

$0

N/A

$4,400

Michigan (f)

4.25% of federal adjusted gross income with modification

$3,950

Minnesota (d)

5.35%

>

$0

$6,200

$3,900

7.05%

>

$24,680

7.85%

>

$81,080

9.85%

>

$152,540

Mississippi

3.00%

>

$0

$2,300

$6,000

4.00%

>

$5,000

5.00%

>

$10,000

Missouri (e, f)

1.50%

>

$0

$6,200

$2,100

2.00%

>

$1,000

2.50%

>

$2,000

3.00%

>

$3,000

3.50%

>

$4,000

4.00%

>

$5,000

4.50%

>

$6,000

5.00%

>

$7,000

5.50%

>

$8,000

6.00%

>

$9,000

Montana (a, d, e)

1.00%

>

$0

$4,270

$2,280

2.00%

>

$2,800

3.00%

>

$4,900

4.00%

>

$7,400

5.00%

>

$10,100

6.00%

>

$13,000

6.90%

>

$16,700

Nebraska (g)

2.46%

>

$0

$6,200

$126 credit

3.51%

>

$3,000

5.01%

>

$18,000

6.84%

>

$29,000

Nevada

No Income Tax

New Hampshire (b)

5.00%

>

$0

N/A

$2,400

New Jersey (f)

1.40%

>

$0

N/A

$1,000

1.75%

>

$20,000

3.50%

>

$35,000

5.53%

>

$40,000

6.37%

>

$75,000

8.97%

>

$500,000

New Mexico

1.70%

>

$0

$6,200

$3,900

3.20%

>

$5,500

4.70%

>

$11,000

4.90%

>

$16,000

New York (f, g)

4.00%

>

$0

$7,700

$1,000

4.50%

>

$8,200

5.25%

>

$11,300

5.90%

>

$13,350

6.45%

>

$20,550

6.65%

>

$77,150

6.85%

>

$205,850

8.82%

>

$1,029,250

North Carolina

5.80%

>

$0

$7,500

N/A

North Dakota (d)

1.22%

>

$0

$6,200

$3,900

2.27%

>

$36,900

2.52%

>

$89,350

2.93%

>

$186,350

3.22%

>

$405,100

Ohio (a, d, f, h)

0.54%

>

$0

N/A

$1,700

1.07%

>

$5,200

2.15%

>

$10,400

2.69%

>

$15,650

3.22%

>

$20,900

3.76%

>

$41,700

4.30%

>

$83,350

4.99%

>

$104,250

5.392%

>

$208,500

Oklahoma

0.50%

>

$0

$5,950

$1,000

1.00%

>

$1,000

2.00%

>

$2,500

3.00%

>

$3,750

4.00%

>

$4,900

5.00%

>

$7,200

5.25%

>

$8,700

Oregon (d, e, f)

5.00%

>

$0

$2,025

$188 credit

7.00%

>

$3,300

9.00%

>

$8,250

9.90%

>

$125,000

Pennsylvania (f)

3.07%

>

$0

N/A

N/A

Rhode Island (d)

3.75%

>

$0

$8,000

$3,800

4.75%

>

$59,600

5.99%

>

$135,500

South Carolina (d)

3.00%

>

$2,880

$6,200

$3,900

4.00%

>

$5,760

5.00%

>

$8,640

6.00%

>

$11,520

7.00%

>

$14,400

South Dakota

No Income Tax

Tennessee (b)

6.00%

>

$0

N/A

$1,250

Texas

No Income Tax

Utah

5.00%

>

$0

N/A

$2,850

Vermont (d)

3.55%

>

$0

$6,200

$3,900

6.80%

>

$36,900

7.80%

>

$89,350

8.80%

>

$186,350

8.95%

>

$405,100

Virginia

2.00%

>

$0

$3,000

$930

3.00%

>

$3,000

5.00%

>

$5,000

5.75%

>

$17,000

Washington

No Income Tax

West Virginia

3.00%

>

$0

N/A

$2,000

4.00%

>

$10,000

4.50%

>

$25,000

6.00%

>

$40,000

6.50%

>

$60,000

Wisconsin (d)

4.00%

>

$0

$9,930

$700

5.84%

>

$10,910

6.27%

>

$21,820

7.65%

>

$240,190

Wyoming

No Income Tax

Washington, DC

4.00%

>

$0

$2,000

$1,675

6.00%

>

$10,000

8.50%

>

$40,000

8.95%

>

$350,000

Note: Brackets are for single taxpayers. Some states double bracket widths for joint filers (AL, AZ, CT, HI, ID, KS, LA, ME, NE, and OR). NY doubles all except the 6.85% bracket, which is effective at $300,000. CA doubles all but the top bracket. Some states increase but do not double brackets for joint filers (GA, MN, NM, NC, ND, OK, RI, VT, and WI). MD decreases some and increases others. NJ adds a 2.45% rate and doubles some bracket widths. Consult Tax Foundation website for tables for joint filers and married filing separately.

(a) 2014 rates but 2013 brackets for CA, ID, MT, and OH. Laws in these states forbid revenue officials from inflation-indexing brackets until mid-year.

(b) Tax applies to interest and dividend income only.

(c) Rates apply to regular tax table. A special tax table is available for low-income taxpayers which reduces their tax payments.

(d) Bracket levels adjusted for inflation each year.

(e) These states allow some or all of federal income tax paid to be deducted from state taxable incomeTaxable income is the amount of income subject to tax, after deductions and exemptions. For both individuals and corporations, taxable income differs from—and is less than—gross income. .

(f) Local income taxes are excluded. Twelve states have county or city level income taxes; the average rate within each jurisdiction is: 0.5% in AL; 1.38% in DE; 1.49% in IN; 0.5% in KS; 2.08% in KY; 2.88% in MD; 1.75% in MI; 0.5% in MO; 2.11% in NY; 2.25% in OH; 0.36% in OR; and 2% in PA. Weighted local rates are from Tax Foundation, 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index.

(g) NY and NE have “tax benefit recapture,” by which many high-income taxpayers pay their top tax rate on all income, not just on amounts above the bracket threshold.

(h) Ohio has suspended inflation indexing for the years 2013-2015. Maine has suspended inflation indexingInflation indexing refers to automatic cost-of-living adjustments built into tax provisions to keep pace with inflation. Absent these adjustments, income taxes are subject to “bracket creep” and stealth increases on taxpayers, while excise taxes are vulnerable to erosion as taxes expressed in marginal dollars, rather than rates, slowly lose value. for the years 2014-2015.

Source: Tax Foundation; state statutes, state tax forms and instructions; Commerce Clearing House.

Stay informed on the tax policies impacting you.

Subscribe to get insights from our trusted experts delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe
Share this article