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Abolishing Wisconsin's Income Tax
Polls show a lot of people in Wisconsin want to pay less in taxes, and almost three-out-of-four don’t want to pay any income taxes.
Democrats in Wisconsin have been hammering Republican candidate for governor Tim Tiffany because he said he’d like to lower and/or eliminate Wisconsin’s income tax.
Tiffany later called it “aspirational,” but Democrats have called it radical.
However, the Institute for Reforming Government said their polling shows getting rid of the income tax is widely welcome news.
"A July 2026 poll fielded by RMG Research found 73% of Wisconsin voters support eliminating the personal income tax by 2030, including 85% of Republicans, 65% of independents and 64% of Democrats," IRG said. "Nine states already do without an income tax, two dozen have flattened or eliminated it, and nearly three in four Wisconsin voters want to join them. That isn’t radical. It’s where the country, and Wisconsin, is heading."
Wisconsin currently has a top personal income tax rate of 7.65%. That makes Wisconsin the second highest in the Midwest, behind only Minnesota and its top 9.85% rate.
Democrats have complained that eliminating Wisconsin's income tax would erase about 60% of state funding, but IRG said it doesn't have to be that way. And the group said the anti-Tiffany side is ignoring Wisconsin's massive increase in spending.
"States without an income tax still fund schools and police. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is sitting on a roughly $3 billion surplus that belongs to taxpayers. And lawmakers have options: West Virginia is using revenue from data centers to help eliminate its income tax," IRG added. "The 2025-27 budget grew spending by 15%, to more than $114 billion. Wisconsin is the 15th highest-spending state per capita, higher than any other Midwest state. Spending limits tied to growth and inflation belong on the table in the next budget."
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