Taxachusetts? (sales, home, income)

[JenniferLynn]

We've all heard the deregatory term, but where does it come from? The property taxes in MA seem to be pretty reasonable compared to the surrounding states. Are there other, more confiscatory taxes that I am not aware of? State income tax? Local fees? What?

[Parsec]

http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/05staxrank.html
According to the census bureau, we are #7 in the U.S. per capita. We used to be taxed higher than we are now, and that's where the name came from. Many people also feel that we get the least for the amount of taxes we pay, i.e. we spend too much on welfare and not enough for the average citizen. The rich can live well here (or anywhere), the poor can get by here on welfare, but the middle class are living like the poor after you take into consideration all the subsidies the poor get.

[JenniferLynn]

I live in CA and I believe we are taxed more overall than MA. Our property taxes are not bad but we pay a state income tax of almost 10%. Our local sales tax is 7.25% on pretty much everything but food and prescriptions.

We are probably taxed even more for public assistance (welfare if you're not PC) than MA is. So, where MA looks expensive to some (mid-westeners and southerners), it looks cheaper than CA to me.

[wealthtrader]

Massachusetts generally supports the idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Although many MASS residents support this idea.. MA has not added many new taxes in comparison to NY or CA (partial thanks to Romney). I'm not too sure that this will remain true under Mr. Patrick.

[LeavingMA]

Massachusetts was more of "taxachusetts" in the 1980's and under Dukakis. Since then it isn't as bad, but still isn't a bargain either. Having republican governors through the 1990's and until recently has helped any one party from dominating the political scene. Granted, the political party in the state congress is overwhelmingly democrats, so they have lots of control over the state. Also, owning or operating a business in MA is quite expensive and a reason many companies have moved from here.

[katzenfreund]

Here are the new figures for 2007 from the census bureau and looks like MA is getting to be more of a "bargain"....

The Tax Foundation - State and Local Tax Burdens Compared to Other U.S. States, 1970-2007

[katzenfreund]

Oops, Parsec already posted it...sorry....

here is a different one, where MA is #10...
StateMaster - Total tax burden (most recent) by state

[ChunkyMonkey]

It seems to me none of those take into account Massachusetts' higher median income.

[baystater]

MA was bad. Now that I'm stuck in NJ for right now. I appreciate MA's tax rate more. Plus government corruption is about 1000 times worse here than MA. I know that sounds impossible. But it absolutely true. I can't wait till I get back home. Whether it call taxachusettes or not it still home and miss it dearly.

[Parsec]

Looks like the first link posted by katzenfreund takes into consideration MA's higher median income. We're only #28 based on state and local taxes, but after taking into account federal income taxes, we jump up to #7. I'm sure this is why all the high-income earning states complain about high taxes -- MA, NY, NJ, CT. It's not necessarily their local governments, but because they are in the 33% tax bracket for federal taxes!