MADISON, Wis. — Amid the annual April 15 deadline to file income taxes, known to many as Tax Day, there’s another tax Wisconsinites are paying this year: the Tiffany Tax.
“While the average Wisconsin family hopes for enough of a tax return to help them stay afloat, Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, who put us in this situation in the first place, is kicking up his feet and looking for even more ways to raise costs,” said Lucy Ripp, communications director at A Better Wisconsin Together.
Ripp also noted that while we pay higher costs because of the Tiffany tax, ironically he has a history of not paying any himself. According to reports Tiffany paid no state income taxes in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010.
More recently, Tiffany gave the OK for Trump to use Wisconsinites’ tax dollars to fund the unpopular and unnecessary war in Iran, which in turn has also caused the cost of gas and groceries in Wisconsin to skyrocket.
Tiffany has also continuously supported and rubberstamped Trump’s tariffs that have raised costs for the average Wisconsin family by over $1,700 per year. In fact, recent reporting shows that Wisconsin businesses and consumers were forced to pay a collective $3.5 billion on Tiffany’s tariffs between March and December 2025.
Despite the immense financial hardship that tariffs have put on Wisconsin families and businesses, Tiffany called the tariffs “really good things.”
Last summer, Tiffany voted to stick Wisconsin taxpayers with over $280 million in higher costs just so he could give a tax break to his billionaire buddies. This vote from Tiffany not only significantly raised costs, but also took healthcare and food benefits away from his constituents.
“Yet even though Tiffany now sits in Congress, Wisconsinites are still feeling the consequences of his time in the Wisconsin Legislature,” Ripp added.
As a state legislator, Tiffany voted for the largest cut to public school funding in state history at the time. The fallout from that vote is still rippling over a decade later. In last week’s spring election, school districts asked Wisconsin voters for more than $1 billion in property tax increases so they can continue to serve the community after years of Republicans like Tiffany blocking public school funding.
