Press Release: New Report: DC Residents Pay More in Federal Income Taxes Per Capita Than Residents in Any Other State

News Release — Gender Equity Policy Institute

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, June 22, 2021

CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro

The Gender Equity Policy Institute Finds Median Federal Income Tax Liability is Higher in DC Than In Any State; DC Residents Pay Nearly Double the Federal Income Taxes of Kentucky Residents, 30% Higher Taxes Than the Next Highest State

Says Passage of DC Statehood Would Eliminate One of the Nation’s Most Egregious Violations of Democratic Rights

WASHINGTON, DC — According to new analysis from the Gender Equity Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization, the median federal income tax liability is higher for DC residents than the residents of any other State, roughly two times higher than Kentucky and 30% higher than the next highest State.  

In a new report, Capitol Injustice: An Analysis of Statehood for Washington D.C. and Its Projected Impacts on Disenfranchised Women and Black Americans, the Gender Equity Policy Institute estimated the 2020 median federal income tax liability for tax-paying residents in D.C. to be $9,734, higher than any other state and the difference in medians was statistically significant compared to every U.S. state. The findings, which hold for all years collected (2018, 2019, and 2020), are derived from an analysis of data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement Survey supplement for the Current Population Survey 

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE: https://thegepi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GEPI-Capitol-Injustice.pdf  

The Gender Equity Policy Institute’s analysis also noted that in the midst of a burgeoning movement to protect the fundamental right to vote, it should not escape notice that the nation’s worst violation of civil rights falls heaviest on Black women. The report cites how: 

• D.C. is majority-female (53%) and nearly half Black (47%).
• Black women and girls make up the largest single demographic group in D.C., at 25% of the population.
• D.C.’s proportion of women is higher than any other state, at a statistically significant level.
• D.C.’s proportion of black women relative to its population is higher than any other state, at a statistically significant level.

Washingtonians, especially women, are engaged voters who have consistently demonstrated a high level of participation. But under D.C.’s current status:

• 527,773 registered voters are effectively disenfranchised at the federal level.
• Roughly 705,749 Americans are currently denied Congressional representation, equal citizenship, and local self-government, including 369,809 women and girls.
• 328,979 Black Americans—179,248 of whom are Black women and girls—are denied Congressional representation, equal citizenship, and local self-government.  

“‘Taxation Without Representation’ is emblazoned on every Washington D.C. license plate. It highlights that citizens of Washington D.C. are the only women and men in the United States who are deprived of self-government at the federal level but required to pay federal income taxes,” explained Mona Shah, Vice President of External Affairs of the Gender Equity Policy Institute. “Passage of the Washington, D.C. Admission Act would eliminate the source of one of the nation’s most egregious violations of democratic rights. By restoring full self-determination and representation to a jurisdiction that is predominantly Black and majority women, statehood for D.C. would both rectify systemic discrimination and immediately and powerfully advance gender and racial justice. Given D.C.’s current representation—a Black woman mayor, Muriel Browser, a Black woman Congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and a city council that is at gender parity—the new State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth is poised to be an exemplar of what a truly inclusive and representative 21st century democracy looks like.” 

GEPI’s analysis says The Washington, D.C. Admission Act earns a rare 100% on the Gender Equity Policy Institute’s gender equity scale, indicating it satisfies all criteria for advancing gender, racial, ethnic, and intersectional equity. Every single D.C. resident, regardless of race, sex, gender, creed, or color, would benefit from Congressional representation and local self-government. Moreover, the measure addresses a structural foundation of inequality in the foundational area of civil rights; notably, it vastly expands rights and leadership opportunities for Black women in particular. 

# # # # #