The start of 2015 means more money in your pocket. Illinois' income tax rate has dropped. It was back in January, 2011 that a lame-duck legislature temporarily hiked the state's income tax rate, bringing it from 3%, up to 5%.
Over the years that extra approximately $1000 taken out of the paychecks of an average Illinois family has brought in billions of dollars to state coffers, roughly $6.8 billion a year, the bulk of it going to pay off pension debt. That still remains a burden on Illinois' finances.
But for now lawmakers will have to figure out how to pay for that and other government needs without all of that that extra revenue. Taxes won't drop down all the way to where they were four years ago.
From 2015 through 2025, Illinois' income tax rate for individuals is 3.75 percent. From then on, the rate will stay at 3.25 percent.
Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner campaigned on a full rollback, within four years' time though he hasn't said how he'd do that while also investing more in education and other areas. Rauner says Illinois' tax structure needs a total revamp.
