Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Truthiness

I was watching (more accurately, listening as I did other tasks) to the morning news yesterday, and they mentioned that the report of tax burdens by state was just made available for this year. That didn't catch my ear. What did was their mentioning that Maryland has the fourth highest tax burden! Well, I don't know why I was surprised; I always knew somewhere in my gut that this is a tax-happy state. Maybe it had something to do with my dad telling me about county taxes from the time he lived in Maryland. ("The form asks you to enter your state tax on one line, then on the next multiply by 50% to get your county tax!") Anyway, it was something I was prepared to hear. But number four is pretty high on the list!

I found the data online here. (You have to scroll the embedded document to the bottom for 2008 numbers.) New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut top the list, with Maryland hot on their heels. Virginia is #18 -- too bad I'm not living there anymore! (DC would fall into the #8 position, but it's not a state. Sorry!) Alaska (tax incentives for living there), Nevada (gambling revenue), and Wyoming (...?) are the three least taxed states.

Nevada sounds like it could be a nice place to live.

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