Escaping High Taxes

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http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/05/18/escaping-high-taxes/

Quote:
Here are some of the most interesting conclusions from the authors’ study:

The tax differential between low-tax states (e.g., Texas and Tennessee) and high-tax states (e,g. California and Ohio) is widening. This makes a move from one state to the other financially profitable both in lower tax bills and more job opportunities.

For every day from 1998 through 2007, at least 1,100 people moved from the nine highest income-tax states to the nine no-income tax states.

During the 1998-2007 period, the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had a 32% faster growth in personal income compared to the high-income tax states.

During the period 2002-2005, states that invoked a “soak the rich” tax hike experienced a significant reduction in the number of rich people paying taxes in these states relative to the national average.


Quote:
Anticipating a “more taxes =better schools, etc.” counter-argument, the authors compared New Hampshire to New York and California:

The Live Free or Die State has no income or sales tax, yet it has high-quality schools and excellent public services. Students in New Hampshire public schools achieve the fourth-highest test scores in the nation — even though the state spends about $1,000 a year less per resident on state and local government than the average state and, incredibly, $5,000 less per person than New York. And on the other side of the ledger, California in 2007 had the highest-paid classroom teachers in the nation, and yet the Golden State had the second-lowest test scores.

Finally, no opinion piece like this can forget taking a well-deserved shot at New Jersey:

Or consider the fiasco of New Jersey. In the early 1960s, the state had no state income tax and no state sales tax. It was a rapidly growing state attracting people from everywhere and running budget surpluses. Today its income and sales taxes are among the highest in the nation yet it suffers from perpetual deficits and its schools rank among the worst in the nation — much worse than those in New Hampshire. Most of the massive infusion of tax dollars over the past 40 years has simply enriched the public-employee unions in the Garden State. People are fleeing the state in droves.
 
I love it... When the states that are getting this influx get as populated as the "higher tax" states, guess what will happen? Things will go down the tubes there too.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny
This is one of the main reasons that I am thinking about moving from WI to TX.


DOOOO IIIT!

Just not Houston. Houston (city limits) sucks, too much crime. Overall, happy with my move to TX aside from all things Houston.
 
Wow, the 4th and 8th grade ratings from USA State-by-State Public School Rankings (based on data from the Nation's Report Card provided by U.S. Department of Education) don't seem to line up... NJ being 6th in 4th grade, and 16th in 8th grade doesn't seem to be "worst in the nation".

Seems to be the case with many of these posts, Mr. Tempest.

http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindexphp/STATE_US.html


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1 New Hampshire NH 228.0 243.0 471.0

2 Massachusetts MA 228.0 242.0 470.0

3 Connecticut CT 228.0 241.0 469.0

4 Vermont VT 226.0 242.0 468.0

5 Minnesota MN 223.0 242.0 465.0

6 New Jersey NJ 225.0 239.0 464.0

7 North Carolina NC 221.0 242.0 463.0

8 Wyoming WY 222.0 241.0 463.0

9 Kansas KS 220.0 242.0 462.0

10 Maine ME 224.0 238.0 462.0

11 Virginia VA 223.0 239.0 462.0

12 Iowa IA 223.0 238.0 461.0

13 Delaware DE 224.0 236.0 460.0

14 North Dakota ND 222.0 238.0 460.0

15 Ohio OH 222.0 238.0 460.0

16 Colorado CO 224.0 235.0 459.0

17 Montana MT 223.0 236.0 459.0

18 South Dakota SD 222.0 237.0 459.0

19 Washington WA 221.0 238.0 459.0

20 Indiana IN 220.0 238.0 458.0

21 New York NY 222.0 236.0 458.0

22 Wisconsin WI 221.0 237.0 458.0

23 Missouri MO 222.0 235.0 457.0

24 Nebraska NE 221.0 236.0 457.0

25 Michigan MI 219.0 236.0 455.0

26 Pennsylvania PA 219.0 236.0 455.0

27 Oregon OR 218.0 236.0 454.0

28 Utah UT 219.0 235.0 454.0

29 Idaho ID 218.0 235.0 453.0

30 Florida FL 218.0 234.0 452.0

31 Maryland MD 219.0 233.0 452.0

32 Texas TX 215.0 237.0 452.0

33 South Carolina SC 215.0 236.0 451.0

34 West Virginia WV 219.0 231.0 450.0

35 Illinois IL 216.0 233.0 449.0

36 Kentucky KY 219.0 229.0 448.0

37 Rhode Island RI 216.0 230.0 446.0

38 Alaska AK 212.0 233.0 445.0

39 Georgia GA 214.0 230.0 444.0

40 Arkansas AR 214.0 229.0 443.0

41 Oklahoma OK 214.0 229.0 443.0

42 Tennessee TN 212.0 228.0 440.0

43 Arizona AZ 209.0 229.0 438.0

44 Hawaii HI 208.0 227.0 435.0

45 Nevada NV 207.0 228.0 435.0

46 California CA 206.0 227.0 433.0

47 Louisiana LA 205.0 226.0 431.0

48 Alabama AL 207.0 223.0 430.0

49 Mississippi MS 205.0 223.0 428.0

50 New Mexico NM 203.0 223.0 426.0


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1 Massachusetts MA 273.0 287.0 560.0

2 Minnesota MN 268.0 291.0 559.0

3 New Hampshire NH 271.0 286.0 557.0

4 North Dakota ND 270.0 287.0 557.0

5 Vermont VT 271.0 286.0 557.0

6 Montana MT 270.0 286.0 556.0

7 South Dakota SD 270.0 285.0 555.0

8 Iowa IA 268.0 284.0 552.0

9 Colorado CO 268.0 283.0 551.0

10 Connecticut CT 267.0 284.0 551.0

11 Wyoming WY 267.0 284.0 551.0

12 Kansas KS 266.0 284.0 550.0

13 Maine ME 268.0 282.0 550.0

14 Virginia VA 268.0 282.0 550.0

15 Wisconsin WI 266.0 284.0 550.0

16 New Jersey NJ 268.0 281.0 549.0

17 Ohio OH 267.0 282.0 549.0

18 Nebraska NE 266.0 282.0 548.0

19 Indiana IN 265.0 281.0 546.0

20 Missouri MO 267.0 279.0 546.0

21 New York NY 265.0 280.0 545.0

22 Oregon OR 264.0 281.0 545.0

23 Utah UT 264.0 281.0 545.0

24 Washington WA 264.0 281.0 545.0

25 Idaho ID 264.0 280.0 544.0

26 Illinois IL 266.0 277.0 543.0

27 North Carolina NC 262.0 281.0 543.0

28 Pennsylvania PA 264.0 279.0 543.0

29 Delaware DE 265.0 277.0 542.0

30 Kentucky KY 266.0 274.0 540.0

31 Maryland MD 262.0 278.0 540.0

32 Michigan MI 264.0 276.0 540.0

33 Texas TX 259.0 277.0 536.0

34 Alaska AK 256.0 279.0 535.0

35 South Carolina SC 258.0 277.0 535.0

36 Oklahoma OK 262.0 272.0 534.0

37 Rhode Island RI 261.0 272.0 533.0

38 West Virginia WV 260.0 271.0 531.0

39 Florida FL 257.0 271.0 528.0

40 Georgia GA 258.0 270.0 528.0

41 Arizona AZ 255.0 271.0 526.0

42 Tennessee TN 258.0 268.0 526.0

43 Arkansas AR 258.0 266.0 524.0

44 Nevada NV 252.0 268.0 520.0

45 Louisiana LA 253.0 266.0 519.0

46 California CA 251.0 267.0 518.0

47 Hawaii HI 251.0 266.0 517.0

48 Mississippi MS 255.0 261.0 516.0

49 Alabama AL 253.0 262.0 515.0

50 New Mexico NM 252.0 263.0 515.0
 
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Texas has a low population?
54.gif
 
Not the case with Texas. They have plenty of room for a major population growth. Texas does not have a state income tax, but they do have a higher sales tax than WI. They also have vehicle inspections that we do not have to help pay for the highway upgrades. It's kind of a pay as you go state and they have the population to generate the income.

The population of WI is not as large as the DFW area so they tax us to death for our services.
 
Desnity-wise, yes. Go into any of the metro areas or places where the densities rival the population centers that tend to have very high taxes, and guess what?

There is a lot of cost associated with PEOPLE. Infrastructure and people-handling costs $$$. Especially if you tie in a huge group of illegals and non-English speaking moochers.

Point is, the article is far from accurate. NJ, for example, has consistently excellent schools other than in the most inner cities and poorest towns, as one would expect. The servces provided, for example, to special needs children are second to none, far better than NC, for example, where my wife had to work out of in med school. And contrary to the article, in lots of towns, people are moving IN. I love it that our town hasnt seen a price drop whatsoever.

Youll find lousy areas everywhere, and youll find good areas everywhere. Higher population equals, given a distribution of people, more bad areas.
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Desnity-wise, yes. Go into any of the metro areas or places where the densities rival the population centers that tend to have very high taxes, and guess what?

So you are saying that density CAUSES high taxes?
 
Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
Originally Posted By: Johnny
This is one of the main reasons that I am thinking about moving from WI to TX.


DOOOO IIIT!

Just not Houston. Houston (city limits) sucks, too much crime. Overall, happy with my move to TX aside from all things Houston.


Not to worry. It will either be North Texas, East Texas, or the hill country. Nowhere close to Houston, Dallas, or Ft. Worth.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Texas has a low population?
54.gif


Maybe in terms of density? 80 people/sq mile in Texas. 1130 people/sq mile in NJ.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Desnity-wise, yes. Go into any of the metro areas or places where the densities rival the population centers that tend to have very high taxes, and guess what?

So you are saying that density CAUSES high taxes?


Density causes the need to control and support the population. Somebody has to pay for all the kids in the schools, all the police, fire department... there likely are no septics or wells in high density areas - so then you get to pay for sewer and water... If the area is widespread with popualtion, you cant dump trash locally, what happens to it?

With a denser area, there are more costs associated with operations, purely because there are more people. I highly doubt that the per person property tax (a made-up value dividing property tax by people on the "lot") in a high-rise apartment building is the same as the per-person property tax in single homes in a more spread-out area. What happens then? A shortfall? Who makes up for the supposedly "deserved" services such as water, sewer and trash removal, let alone schools?
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Texas does not have a state income tax, but they do have a higher sales tax than WI.

Property taxes also seem to be higher, but I suppose that's dependent on the specific county/location.
 
Then again, there are also mismanaged areas... When I lived in Auburn, AL, there was a >8% tax on EVERYTHING. NJ at the time had 6%, and only on non-necessities (has since gone to 7%). NC, another state that many claim is so great, had a 7% tax on everything, including necessities, when my wife lived there. Meanwhile, we have some of the lowest gas taxes in the country, and NJ has far cheaper gas than AL or NC does, by a long shot.

What they don't get you for one way, they do another.

What is so great about that??? NC supposedly has great "growth"... but taxes to death too. AL the same... and they don't nearly have the same level of any public infrastructure that we do in NJ.
 
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in TN, we have a 9.25% sales tax on everything including food. We do not have a state income tax, but we have a state lottery. :)
 
Unless you want to live in an arm-pit of a city, you have to pay taxes for all those services.

FL does not have a state income tax nor do we vehicle inspections and property taxes are low.... I hate to say this, but in a few years I'm getting out of this rectum of a state called FL.
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Rating the quality of schools as a state average is pointless.

We have the best and the worst school of the nation within 30 miles of each other. Why? It is the students and the parents that make the school, not how much money you throw at it.

This is reflected in the home price.
 
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