The legislative plan maintains a flat tax for the financial elite: Individuals reporting income above $750,000 and couples with joint incomes above $1,000,000 would pay a 7.95 percent rate from their first dollar. as income increases, so would the tax rate, maxing out at 7.85 percent. Most earners would be subject to progressive rate scales starting at 4.75 percent for the first $10,000 of income earned. Notably, the initial legislative plan on which the amendment is largely based-and which was proposed by the Democrat-controlled legislature-is a hybrid between a flat and progressive scheme. The amendment does not offer any specific progressive rate scale, but allows for increasing tax rates to be applied to successive tiers of a taxpayer’s income. The amendment requires a simple majority vote to be passed. Currently, all income earned in Illinois is taxed at a 4.95 percent rate. Pritzker, the amendment seeks to remove a provision in the Illinois constitution that requires all income taxes to be flat-that is, held at a constant rate regardless of the amount of income earned by any taxpayer. Supported politically (and financially) by Illinois’s billionaire governor, J.

One of the most contentious political battles of the 2020 election cycle involves the Illinois “Fair Tax” ballot amendment.

Whats a flat tax