MILWAUKEE. Wis. – U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin millionaire industrialist, paid hardly any state income taxes in 2017, records show. On income of $450,000, Johnson paid $2,100 – less than one half of 1%. The data were unearthed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper acknowledged that 2017 was an off-year for Johnson. Over a 10-year span, the newspaper said, Johnson averaged $60,000 in state taxes. Why so little in 2017? Vanessa Ambrosini, a Johnson aide, said the senator had less income than usual in 2017. That, however, seemed an insufficient explanation for paying less than 0.5%. Ambrosini declined to elaborate. As a U.S. senator, Johnson earns $174,000 plus generous pension, medical, travel and franking privileges. His net worth has been estimated at $10 million from his in-laws’ Oshkosh plastics packaging company.
