The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette
You’d think our state’s ruling Democrats would be doing their level best to win back the working class in advance of next year’s national midterm election. It will be a referendum, after all, on the Trump presidency and congressional Republicans — who won power last year with the support of workers long deemed the sole domain of the Democratic Party.
Yet, Colorado’s Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis decided to gut-punch Colorado workers, instead — by essentially taxing their hard-earned overtime wages. That provision was buried in an obscure, wide-ranging bill innocuously titled, “Tax Expenditure Adjustment,” which lawmakers passed this spring. Polis signed it into law in May.
The state’s overtime tax is intended to offset federal legislation that just passed Congress and was signed by the president, allowing joint-filing workers to deduct up to $25,000 in overtime earnings from their federal income taxes. The same legislation also lets workers deduct up to $25,000 a year in tips earned from waiting tables, styling hair and other tip-dependent trades.
The new federal tax deductions will lower filers’ adjusted gross income and thus cut the taxes they owe the IRS — which means Colorado will collect less revenue, as well. That’s because the state uses a filer’s federal adjusted gross income to calculate state income tax bills.
Of course, Colorado’s top pols weren’t about to sit still for that. So, rather than let workers reap the full benefits of federal tax relief, they made sure the state still got its cut.
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Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.