Posted on 03/20/2014 1:51:31 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
If you hate paying taxes, pay attention to where you live. Residents of the nation's lowest-tax states pay less than one-quarter of the levies contributed by those in the highest-tax states. And that's even when they earn the same amount and spend the same amount on everything from housing to beer, according to an analysis by personal finance site WalletHub.
The site looked at 10 different taxes, from property and state and local income taxes to those on vehicles, food, alcohol, fuel, telecommunications and sales. The total tax hit was based on a hypothetical individual earning $65,596, with a $174,600 home, a $17,547 car and who spends a set amount -- the national average -- on everything from groceries to gas.
The result: This individual pays $9,718 in state and regional tax levies if he lives in New York. That's nearly 15 percent of his income. But he pays just $2,364, less than 4 percent of gross income, if he lives in Wyoming.
It's worth noting that the WalletHub study differs from other research on the highest tax states because it does not factor in average wages in the various states. The Tax Foundation, for example, also does a ranking of highest tax states. But it attempts to gauge the average tax hit by using state-specific wages. This analysis holds wages and spending constant, allowing Americans to consider just how much or little they'd pay if they picked up their current lifestyle and moved a few states away.
Under this analysis, a resident of Connecticut would see that if he moved across the border into Rhode Island -- and had no change in income, housing or spending -- he'd save $2,195 annually in taxes alone. A Californian moving across the border to Nevada, meanwhile, would save $6,139.
10 states with the lowest average annual tax burden:
1. Wyoming, $2,365 2. Alaska, $2,791 3. Nevada, $3,370 4. Florida, $3,648 5. South Dakota, $3,766 6. Washington (state), $3,823 7. Texas, $5,193 8. Delaware, $5,195 9. North Dakota, $5,588 10. New Mexico, $5,822
10 states with the highest average annual tax burden:
1. New York, $9,718 2. California, $9,509 3. Nebraska, $9,450 4. Connecticut, $9,099 5. Illinois, $9,006 6. Wisconsin, $8,975 7. Vermont, $8,838 8. New Jersey, $8,830 9. Iowa, $8,788 10. Maine, $8,622
To see how your state compares, check out WalletHub's full analysis..
Wisconsin still on the high tax list.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
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I was surprised Texas wasn’t number one.
No Maryland? I find this suspect. Maryland should be number one even higher than New York.
Two words: Property Taxes.
Red Hampshire doesn’t look so good when you roll in the astronomical property taxes, does it?
What’s with Nebraska at No. 3 for highest taxes?
Red Hampshire doesn’t look so good when you roll in the astronomical property taxes, does it? Wyoming comes in at #1 with the least tax burden...that’s the state that came in #2 among ‘Free Staters’ looking for a state to call their own...now they’re stuck with Red Hampshire.
“No Maryland? I find this suspect. Maryland should be number one even higher than New York.”
I’d say the evidence would point to NJ, just by the fact that we have the most people fleeing. There is no way to spin it; companies and American taxpayers are fleeing in droves (have been for years), but we’re still taxed as though there is an economy here. Our middle and upper middle classes are composed mostly of civil servants at this point, driving the rest of us into insolvency; NJ is increasingly becoming a state of government workers, American gibsmedats of various ethnicities, and illegal aliens.
Sorry to hear that. At least you have a Republican Governor….RINO of course, but Maryland has a big time communist as Governor who also is mentioned as Presidential material….God Help us if Governor O’Malley ever becomes President.
Christie is doing his best (I don’t consider him a RINO - he is an anti-tax, pro-life governor), but the built-in costs of our bloated gubmint workforce is strangling us. Due to property tax increase caps, it has become more stable but is still priced as though we have decent jobs (many of which have gone permanently); we’ve laid off a lot of workers, but the retirement costs of the people who’ve retired over the past decades are killing us.
I’m not familiar with the issues that are particular to Maryland; at least you get less snow...
Finally Florida’s on a good list...
Property taxes?
Well, property is much much cheaper too. You don’t spend percentages. You spend dollars.
Low cost of living must be factored in.
These comparisons are never very accurate.
No,
as conservative as we like to claim we are, the good old boys gouge the crap out of us with taxes.
We pay .20 per gallon in fuel tax, gas or diesel.
The property taxes are criminal, but we have to pay for the high schools for illegals, and the football stadiums to keep the college player machine fed.....
Two words: Property Taxes.”
You have that right. Value of homes for those over 65 keep increasing every year just so the tax revenues go up. Even though Austin kept saying they were going to use some of their increased revenue to decrease property taxes, all we saw happen was an increase of funding to public schools. Pathetic.
I lived in Nh from ‘87-90. I owned a small house on an acre of land.
I then moved to MA, bout a house twice the size and half the property.
My property taxes in MA exceeded those in NH in 2003. 13 years.
The 5.5% income tax sucked, but the final hit on my cash flow was negligible. Plus in NH I got no services: no sanitation, sewer, no fire, and marginal police coverage.
New Hampshire is no bargain.
I wasn’t surprised at all. While Texas has no state income tax, we get slammed on property taxes, vehicle “registration” fees, 8.25% sales tax, etc. The good thing is, most of those taxes are fully in the control of the taxpayer. For instance, I may be able to afford the price of a $500K house, but choose not to purchase it because of the high taxes (thereby avoiding taxes). In states with an income tax, it’s taken off the top with no choice being made by the resident.
A few years back, I went through everything I paid in a year to get an idea of all the taxes I paid in Texas. I forget the percentage of my income, but the total amount paid was an eye opener - driver license renew fee, CHL fee, fees on water bill (fire dept, surface water conservation, etc.), hunting/fishing license, taxes on phone, cable, and electric bills, property taxes, sales tax, toll roads, etc. The list is a mile long. Heck, there are even fees charged at the doors of strip clubs that go back to the state to pay for abused women. Then, add federal taxes on top of that.
But even though we Texans pay a lot of taxes on the side, we also have a MUCH lower cost of living here. My Houston area house (4 BR, 2 BA, 2300 sq ft, swimming pool) would cost in the millions in CA - for me, $200K. Add on to that lower gas and food prices and the picture gets rosier.
Folks in Nebraska are wondering about that,too.
“But even though we Texans pay a lot of taxes on the side, we also have a MUCH lower cost of living here. My Houston area house (4 BR, 2 BA, 2300 sq ft, swimming pool) would cost in the millions in CA - for me, $200K. “
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I paid $305,000.00 for a 2 BR,2 BA condo here in MA. I’d get out of here but it’s too late for me.
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