September 16, 2025
By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project
Progressive tax myths vs. reality.
There’s been a lot of noise about a bunch of progressive groups pushing a ballot measure to change our income tax structure from a flat tax (where all income brackets pay the same percentage) to a progressive one (where you pay more income tax as a percent and in absolute terms if you earn more).
If you want an example article and some context, see the Sun article linked first below.
I wanted to offer you a couple resources from a fiscally conservative (and frankly reality-based) perspective to counter what will likely be a blitz on the topic in the media and elsewhere. A couple resources to help you better advocate against this wrongheaded policy.
There are two Complete Colorado op eds linked second and third below that both touch on the topic of a progressive state income tax.
I’ll leave it to you to read both, but will provide a quick summary here.
The one linked second below is by Christopher Song (one of the Independence Institute interns) and touches on how our state’s overall tax structure is actually regressive.
That is, while everyone pays the same rate of state income tax on their income, when you start including all the other taxes that Colorado levies on people, those with low incomes actually pay more as a percent of their income than do the more wealthy!
But that’s not all. This disparity has gotten worse over time (and even if you just consider the past few years of Colorado’s Democrat trifecta). Screenshot 1, from this op ed, gives a breakdown year by year of effective property taxes rates by income.
I’ll let Mr. Song conclude this one before looking over op ed #2. Quoting:
“Simply put, TABOR and its accompanying flat income tax aren’t the root cause of the problem, rather they’re being blamed for a much deeper structural imbalance in Colorado’s tax system. Instead of attacking the flat tax or weakening TABOR, critics should focus on areas of taxation that actually fall hardest on low-income Coloradans.”
Op ed #2, linked third below, Independence Institute’s Nash Herman make a couple of (I thought) salient and pointed arguments worth special mention. Quoting with links intact:
“Progressives are loudly proclaiming that a progressive income tax is fairer because most Coloradans pay less, while the wealthy would pay more. Let’s examine that. The newly proposed income tax would reduce taxes by a paltry 0.1% for those making between $100,000 and $500,000, with a paltry cut of 0.2% for those making less than $100,000. However, as per current law, the tax rate could already be lowered by as much as 0.15% should a large enough TABOR surplus exist, and that would be for every Colorado taxpayer. But that’s not all. Research conducted by Independence Institute suggests that revenue lost from an exorbitant number of tax expenditures — tax credits, deductions, and subsidies — passed by the legislature in the last several years could have been used to lower the income tax rate for all Coloradans by over one percent, while remaining revenue neutral.”
Said another way, TABOR, if left to its own devices, would refund us all money and perhaps more than a progressive tax ballot measure. Also, along the lines of letting TABOR work on its own, if the progressives in the legislature hadn’t piddled away excess budget dollars on their own pet projects like subsidies for the groups they like, we would all keep more of our own money.**
The ballot measure to rearrange the income tax structure in Colorado is not about making the wealthy pay their fair share. They already shoulder the biggest tax burden in the state.
It’s about the government getting more of your money to spend in ways they see fit and to benefit those they have sympathy for.
I can also tell you this. If you figure that the taxes won’t hit you, I would say wait. Just wait because soon enough it’ll be you that’s not paying your fair share and I bet you that over time the income limits will get lowered.
Study up now. Advocate now instead of just figuring they’ll stop with other people.
**See “Related” content below.
https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/03/colorado-income-tax-graduated-ballot-measure/
https://completecolorado.com/2025/09/04/high-earners-disproportionately-more-colorado-income-taxes/
Related:
Want a sample of a subsidy where your tax dollars didn’t go back to you or to the poor progressives profess to care so much about?
An example is in the newsletter below. It details a law from 2023 where the Colorado Dems took tax money to give prisoners free phone calls and details how this popular program needed more money than they thought at first.
This would be something where your money, money for low income Coloradoans, could have been returned to those that earned it.
READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COLORADO ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.
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