Growls

A new report from the Tax Foundation (Fiscal Fact No. 242, August 27, 2010) shows they pretty much plunder everyone although different states plunder some more than others. The Tax Foundation, however, says it nicer:

“Newly released Census data show how different the 50 states' fiscal systems are. Their reliance on various sources of tax revenue differs widely because they have different endowed resources and policy priorities. These differences are reflected in state-local tax collections no matter how large or small a fraction of the residents' income state and local governments have decided to take in taxes.

“States heavily endowed with valuable natural resources, such as Alaska and Wyoming, will usually exploit those tax revenue sources, which they can do without much fear of driving the activity out of state, given that those natural resources are largely immobile. States with more tourism like Nevada and Florida rely more heavily on sales taxes so that they can forgo taxing income. A calculated decision by a state to concentrate taxation in a few sources is a plus for the state's taxpayers, significantly lowering the administrative burden for government and taxpayers and making the state tax climate conducive to economic growth. Of course, that means relying more heavily on the remaining tax sources for revenue.”

The sources for the study’s numbers are Tax Foundation calculations and recently released data from the Census Bureau. Some examples of these differences include: (emphases added)

• Property Taxes. State and local governments in New Hampshire rely on property taxes for 61.6% of its tax revenues followed by Rhode Island for 42.3% and New Jersey for 42.2%. Virginia’s state and local governments get 32.3% of their tax revenues from this tax source.
  

• Sales Taxes. State and local governments in Tennessee get 57.9% of its tax revenue from general and selective sales taxes followed by Nevada at 55.7% and South Dakota at 54.3%. Virginia’s state and local governments get 14.5% of their tax revenues from general sales taxes and 11.7% from selective sales taxes.
  

• Personal Income Taxes. State and local governments in Maryland get 40.4% of its tax revenue from personal income taxes while Oregon (39.7%) and Massachusetts (36.8%) rely on these taxes. Ranking ninth in this category, Virginia’s state and local governments get 30.9% of their tax revenues this way.
  

• Licenses and Other Taxes. State and local taxes in Alaska rely most on this category at 73.1% followed by Delaware (33.5%) and North Dakota (30.7%). Virginia’s state and local governments get 8.1% of their tax revenues from this source.

In addition, Virginia relies for 2.4% of its tax revenues from the corporate income tax while Maryland relies on the corporate income tax for 2.7% of its tax revenues.

Thanks to the Tax Foundation, and a H/T to the Tax Prof.