Article posted Wednesday, January 8, 2014 11:42am

In December, Governor Scott Walker said he will consider eliminating Wisconsin’s income tax as part of an initiative to lower the overall tax burden on state residents. He suggested increasing sales tax to make up for some of the loss.

Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Department of Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler are holding a series of Tax Reform Roundtable discussions around the state. The first discussion, held at Beloit College in December, was closed to the press and public until it was nearly over, which Kleefisch said was standard procedure because it allowed the invited executives to speak freely.

$7.65 billion

The amount of money the income tax is expected to bring in in 2014. It accounts for half the money the state is projected to spend that year in its main account.

$4.6 billion

The amount of money the state’s five percent sales tax is estimated to bring in in the fiscal year 2015.

13.3

The sales tax rate needed to cover the state’s income tax.

$755

Annual increase in taxes the state’s middle income group (that earns an average of $47,000 annually) would pay with the governor’s suggested changes.

$44,000

The amount of savings the top one percent of tax filers with the highest income would save annually with the governor’s suggested changes.

Sources: Associated Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Budget Project, Wisconsin State Journal