http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/Advice/TheBestAndWorstStatesForTaxes.aspx?page=2

found this interesting...more interesting that some states (ie. alaska) don't have a sales tax.



[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 9:10 AM. Reason : .]

2/13/2007 9:07:53 AM

how'd you not know some states didnt have a sales tax?

2/13/2007 9:30:08 AM

some states don't have an income tax either....

2/13/2007 12:58:45 PM

some states are different sizes than others

2/13/2007 1:12:22 PM

Something's not right there.

They list MD's state/local tax rate at 10.7%.

However state is 4.75%(higest) and local is about 3% at the most(depending on county).
http://individuals.marylandtaxes.com/incometax/default.asp

so what's going on?

2/13/2007 1:12:31 PM

it says it takes an average of the tax rate?

anyway, what is really weird is that the more liberal leaning states which are supposed to be 'welfare states' seem to have lower tax rates than the 'small government' conservative states

2/13/2007 1:21:03 PM

that's b/c after you support the people who need help, they become productive members of society, creating a more efficient society, requiring fewer taxes

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 1:23 PM. Reason : which is prolly bs, but hey, it sounds good amirite]

2/13/2007 1:23:33 PM

and here i was thinking every state was the same

2/13/2007 1:25:58 PM

^^^

Alaska 6.6%
New Hampshire 7.3%
Texas 9.4%

California 10.9%
New York 12.9%
Washington DC 12.8%

I'm not sure why the cigarette tax is included but other taxes aren't.

I mean, look at North Carolina in that chart. State income tax is 7-8% and sales tax is another 7-8% and there's also property tax on cars, in addition to the property tax on houses. They want you to believe all state, local taxes in NC are only 10.5% but that's bullshit.

2/13/2007 1:36:04 PM

^^^^
The reason some 'welfare states' have lower tax rates is because 1, the avg. income may be higher, so the same amount of taxes is a lower %, & 2, those states have much higher business & wealth taxes.

Different states get their taxes different ways. NC believes is allowing businesses to function with really low taxes, in some cases tax free, so that we have lots of middle class citizens to tax.


^
Property taxes are hardly that much on average. It's only like maybe 1-2%, depending on where you live. Sales taxes aren't really that much either unless you are a shopaholic (Food sales tax is only like 2%). Even if you spend 10k a year on stuff that's still only 700 a year in sales tax. And even if you use 20gallons of gas a week, that's only ~300 a year in taxes. I would believe 10.5% is an acurate number. Do the math yourself.

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 2:22 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2007 2:15:45 PM

Quote :

"Property taxes are hardly that much on average. It's only like maybe 1-2%"

of the home value. If the value of your home is 3-5x your income, it's more like 5-10% of income.
For retired people who bought before the housing boom, their house could be worth 10x thier fixed income. Then property tax could be 10-20% of their income.

Quote :

"Food sales tax is only like 2%"

Not at Gumby's. Restaurant food is a significant portion of my monthly budget.


I also wonder how much the cig tax is distorting the numbers and rankings.


[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 2:27 PM. Reason : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

2/13/2007 2:22:49 PM

^Food sales tax is on groceries, not food at restaurants.


Also many of your state taxes can be written off, so it doesn't eat as much into your total tax burden as you might think.

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

2/13/2007 2:25:08 PM

Quote :

"food tax of 2%"

which at one point in time was instituted on a "temporary basis" for a certain "need" that wound up becoming permanent

2/13/2007 2:28:08 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "Property taxes are hardly that much on average. It's only like maybe 1-2%" of the home value. If the value of your home is 3-5x your income, it's more like 5-10% of income. For retired people who bought before the housing boom, their house could be worth 10x thier fixed income. Then property tax could be 10-20% of their income. "

You are overestimating a good bit. For one, you have to remember this is a STATE AVERAGE. The property taxes in my home county are much lower than Wake's. Even living in Wake county, my property tax bill is like 1500, which is like 2%, & my home is worth 3x my income. And again, it's only that much b/c I live in Wake County. Sure it's gonna be more for retired people, but if they are living in a nice house when they retire, the they will have a substantial pension/savings income anyway.

If the tax bill on your home is 5-10% of your income, then you couldn't afford the mortgage payments on such a home, which means you probably inherited it & then you case is an anomaly.

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 2:56 PM. Reason : ]

2/13/2007 2:53:17 PM

Retired people used to work. Some of them paid off their mortages before they retired.

[Edited on February 13, 2007 at 3:13 PM. Reason : If they can argue exceptions, so can I. ]

2/13/2007 3:09:06 PM

2%????

property tax is much less than that.


http://www.wakegov.com/NR/rdonlyres/3075F8F0-0939-413A-8CDE-EE09921BA00D/0/TaxRates2006.pdf

2/13/2007 3:23:10 PM

we weren't talking about the property tax rate, we were talking about the % of income going to taxes.

2/13/2007 7:10:53 PM

Quote :

"it says it takes an average of the tax rate?"

Didn't you fucking read where I quoted the MAX tax rate.

2/13/2007 7:21:58 PM