TRENTON, N.J. – Record-high inflation, New Jersey’s built-in income tax hikes, and a Democrat-controlled government combine to create a mean holiday Grinch. Consumers in New Jersey are feeling the extra squeeze this season, because Trenton Democrats have rejected calls to index income taxes to inflation, say Assembly Republicans. This episode of “<Three” breaks down New Jersey’s “Grinchy” tax code and how it is impacted by inflation.
Reina Smrdelj, a legislative analyst at the Assembly Republican Office, likens state income taxes to a bad banana with a greasy black peel. Small increases in income push people into the next tax bracket, while rising costs decrease purchasing power. Wages can’t keep up with inflation so residents are slipping further behind. In the last year, living expenses in New Jersey increased by $8,900, but the average pay only increased by $3,700. No wonder state residents are in such a funk this year – inflation, taxes and Dems just stink, stank, stunk.
Watch more videos in the <Three series on the Assembly Republican Office’s YouTube channel.
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