The study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based research group that studies policies affecting the poor, found that the minimum annual income in Hawaii for taxing a four-person family was $6,100, lower than all but four other states.

Hawaii's minimum income for taxing a three-person family was $4,800, lower than all but three other states.

The study also found that three-person families earning either the minimum wage or a salary at the poverty line paid higher taxes in Hawaii than in any other state.

"Hawaii's burden on poor families is easily one of the worst in the nation," said co-author Elizabeth McNichol, who characterized Hawaii's tax system as regressive. "Many states have targeted tax relief for low-income families. It does not have to be very expensive."

In 1986, the federal government essentially exempted poor families from paying income tax by raising the minimum taxing income to the poverty line. Since then, about half the states have enacted policies -- higher personal exemptions, low-income tax credits -- that lower the taxes on poor families.

The study found that only 24 states in 1995 impose any income taxes on families below the poverty line, and the average tax threshold for those states was $10,342 for a family of four.

Hawaii, with a threshold of $6,100, was lower than every state except Illinois, Indiana, Alabama and Kentucky.

Unlike most states, Hawaii has no broad-based tax credits aimed at helping low-income families, said McNichol. And many of the targeted tax credits that helped the poor -- the food tax credit and the medical care tax credit -- have been reduced or eliminated in the past few years.

Because of those changes, the tax burden on poor Hawaii families has increased over the past few years, according to the study.

In 1991, a four-person family in Hawaii paid taxes only if its income was more than 45 percent of the poverty line level. Last year, the same family owed taxes if its income was more than 38 percent of the poverty level.

"Levying an income tax on the poor pushes families deeper into poverty, compounding the challenge of making ends meet," said McNichol. "Policies that reduce the take-home pay of individuals struggling to support their families and stay off cash assistance undermine their efforts to remain self-sufficient."

These states tax the most for a two-parent family of four with an income of $16,021, which is considered the poverty line:

1. Kentucky $545
2. Hawaii $476
3. Indiana $409
4. Alabama $383
5. Oregon $364
6. Illinois $361
7.Pennsylvania $359
8. Michigan $283
9. Virginia $261
10. Arkansas $242
and W. Virginia $242

Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities