Equality For All

Data released from the Illinois Department of Revenue for the first year that the tuition tax credit was available (2000) reveals that the state’s education tax credit is regressive, benefiting many more middle- and upper-income families than those with incomes less than $20,000. (This figure is used as a benchmark since it is only slightly higher than the federal poverty line for a family of four: $18,100.)¹⁶ For example, taxpayers earning more than $80,000 annually claimed 46 percent of the entire $61 million credit amount in 2000, or $28.2 million.