$26 Billion: The Numbers Don't Lie When It Comes to Taxation Without Representation in DC

• April 25th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Most DC residents tend to turn their attention to issues of autonomy and statehood more when April 15th rolls around. But just how much taxation and how little representation do DC residents endure?

A recent post by District, Measured shows that in 2014, DC businesses and residents paid $26.4 billion in federal taxes — an 80 percent increase versus 2002 when the Internal Revenue Service stopped lumping our taxes with Maryland’s. From 2002 to 2014, DC residents paid the federal government $256 billion.

“In 2014 the District paid more federal taxes than 22 states and paid nearly the same amount as South Dakota, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, and Vermont combined,” the District, Measured post stated. “Those states have 15 seats in Congress while the District has only one non-voting delegate.” And therein lies the rub.

Although congressional representatives are not apportioned based on tax dollars, the fact remains that if DC did have a population-proportionate three representatives on the Hill, the city would have paid the fourth-highest tax dollars per representative in 2014. It’s no wonder that 67 percent of DC residents are pro-statehood.

The District, Measured’s analysis is based on numbers in the IRS Data Book.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/numbers_dont_lie_taxation_without_representation_in_the_district/11149.