The Utah Taxpayers Association has released its 2024 “Beehive Family Report” which documents the taxes paid by a typical Utah family to various entities. The report includes an accounting of FICA payments, federal taxes and state and local property, income and sales taxes as well as various hidden taxes to give a complete picture of the family’s overall tax burden.
The family paid more than 28% of their gross income in taxes and fees, the majority of which was paid to the federal Social Security and Medicare programs. This year, the family enjoyed a small decrease in state taxes paid due to the income tax rate cut from 4.85% to 4.65% in HB 54 (2023). They also benefited from the Road Usage Charge program as the owners of an electric vehicle and the double personal exemption for a child born that year.
“The purpose of this report,” said Association President Rusty Cannon, “is to highlight the tax burden placed on taxpayers and draw attention to where that burden is coming from. Taxation is a function of government spending and unless we can reduce the cost of the programs our taxes fund, our tax burden will continue to increase. The fact that the family’s state tax burden is actually decreasing is very encouraging and we hope to see this continue.”
The report can be viewed here: https://utahtaxpayers.org/beehive-family-report/
