Anyway, now that that's out of the way, you can begin to think about those 2007 and 2008 returns, particularly what the Legislature has done to the Utah income tax.

We've been trying to figure out if the income-tax changes passed by the Legislature in 2006 and 2007 favor the wealthiest taxpayers. So we were interested in two briefing papers published in March, one by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, the other by the Utah Taxpayers Association.

We were struck by the Utah Taxpayers Association example that, based on a family of four (married couple filing jointly with two children), the largest tax cut, expressed as a percentage of income, goes to the family with income of $500,000.

That's what we would have expected of a flat tax. But what the Legislature has created is not a pure flat tax, although it applies a flat rate of 5 percent beginning in 2008, but a system that is modified by credits that phase out as income increases. Thus, the system is still mildly progressive. (The system for 2007, a transition year, is different.)

One odd result is that a family of four with an income of $200,000 gets the smallest tax cut in percentage terms, among the Taxpayers Association's examples. One with $100,000 does considerably better. The family with $500,000 does best. Next best? The family with $40,000. The family with $20,000 pays no state income tax at all.

But not all high-income households will get a tax cut, when changes in other taxes, including sales taxes, are also considered. The Taxpayers Association notes that "based on total dollars, high-income families receive the largest tax cuts. However, of the households experiencing a tax increase, most are high income."

If you want a psychedelic analysis of the state income tax, be sure to check out the scatterplot charts on the Web site of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel. You can get there from the Legislature's Web site (www.le.state.ut.us). Click on "Tax Relief & Reform Briefing Paper."

Who knew taxes could be such a trip?

The family with $500,000 does best. Next best? The family with $40,000. The family with $20,000 pays no state income tax at all.