Mark Kinlaw: Tax expectations

Regarding the May 5 letter “A growing economy” about how people complaining about recent tax reforms in North Carolina are Democrats whining about having to pay taxes: I think the writer is missing the point.

It’s not about the taxes they are paying. It’s about the taxes they expected to pay. The Republicans who sponsored this reform sold it to the public as a tax break for everyone. Yet when the dust finally settled, most of us have seen our income taxes increase; some significantly.

Additionally, we took a hit in education funding and are paying taxes on products and services that were excluded before.

Now they are talking about increasing the sales tax on cars and car insurance. They plan to increase the annual fees to drive cars. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the tax burden has been redistributed to the middle class to help pay for tax breaks for businesses and the rich, whose income tax decreased significantly, by the way.

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Mark Kinlaw: Tax expectations."