Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sooner or later, local taxes will become so onerous that the NH legislature will be forced to impose a general income tax on the people.
I submit PA's income tax as a model. It's a flat tax of 3.07% on all categories of income. The rate started out at 2.2% in the early 1970s but when a democrat is elected to the governorship, spending increases and so does the tax rate. The PA constitution does not permit progressive taxation. There is no such provision in the NH constitution.
Note that all categories of income are included except combat pay and retirement income. If you are a sole proprietor or partner in a business, that income is also included. Compare that to NH's 8.5% business profits tax, which applies to every business and professional practice that's not a corporation.
Sooner or later, local taxes will become so onerous that the NH legislature will be forced to impose a general income tax on the people.
I submit PA's income tax as a model. It's a flat tax of 3.07% on all categories of income. The rate started out at 2.2% in the early 1970s but when a democrat is elected to the governorship, spending increases and so does the tax rate. The PA constitution does not permit progressive taxation. There is no such provision in the NH constitution.
Note that all categories of income are included except combat pay and retirement income. If you are a sole proprietor or partner in a business, that income is also included. Compare that to NH's 8.5% business profits tax, which applies to every business and professional practice that's not a corporation.
What will happen is everyone's taxes will go up and everyone will pay more. Pennsylvania is an excellent example. This site shows average tax burden by state:
rank 1 == highest tax burden, rank 50 == lowest tax burden. New Hampshire is 44, Pennsylvania is 15. Pennsylvania's tax burden is 30% higher than New Hampshire's. You can get the exact same effect today if you want without creating a state income tax, just raise all property taxes by 30% across the board.
More types of taxes == higher taxes for everyone. If you go to bed every night upset that New Hampshire just isn't spending enough yet on schools, that class sizes of 10 kids is outrageous and it should be more like 5 kids per class, voting for a state income tax is definitely the way to go.
I think income taxes hurt the low income people more than the mid- high-income people. Personally, if a tax is needed, I'd rather see a sales tax at a lower rate than Massachusetts and Maine's. That way, lower income people only get hurt when they buy things (that they generally don't "need" but do want), and you'd still be collecting tax from all those Mass. and Maine folks who shop in NH, not to mention the tourists shopping.
I think income taxes hurt the low income people more than the mid- high-income people.
Don't worry, that'll be fixed in V1.01.
Once we let them get a foot in the door, the "disparate impact" crowd will immediately label the flat tax as racist and push for a more "Progressive" plan which centralizes even more power in Concord.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5
Sooner or later, local taxes will become so onerous that the NH legislature will be forced to impose a general income tax on the people.
I submit PA's income tax as a model.
Note that PA also has a 6% sales tax, and even with all this, the state is ranked in the top ten highest property tax states, and (see below) the top 20 for overall tax burden.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdhpa
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5
It's a flat tax of 3.07% on all categories of income. The rate started out at 2.2% in the early 1970s but when a democrat is elected to the governorship, spending increases and so does the tax rate.
What will happen is everyone's taxes will go up and everyone will pay more. Pennsylvania is an excellent example. This site shows average tax burden by state: https://taxfoundation.org/publicatio...rden-rankings/
Give state government a tool for revenue extraction and they'll abuse it, cranking up the tax rate to fund every "essential" program they can imagine.
The only way to avoid an ever climbing tax burden is to limit the tools government, especially state and federal government, has to milk the citizens.
I think income taxes hurt the low income people more than the mid- high-income people. Personally, if a tax is needed, I'd rather see a sales tax at a lower rate than Massachusetts and Maine's. That way, lower income people only get hurt when they buy things (that they generally don't "need" but do want), and you'd still be collecting tax from all those Mass. and Maine folks who shop in NH, not to mention the tourists shopping.
A sales tax makes the most sense to me. A change of the current use tax structure and no new taxes ideal. Something is going to give eventually. They will increase or institute a scheme to collect more taxes which might come sooner than most people think.
No. Property taxes should go down, school taxes should go down, and the interest and dividends taxes should go away. Government should stop spending what they don't have and insisting they provide what they have no business providing. Not like we're getting our money's worth, anyway.
The average state reimbursement rate for school funding in PA is 52%. Poor districts get more state funding and wealthier districts get less. The state's contribution to the teachers' very generous retirement benefits is 34%. Ditto for state workers. Local school property taxes in PA are only a fraction of what they are in New Jersey, New York and CT. If PA taxpayers were allowed to vote on bond proposals to finance new school construction, local property taxes would be a lot less. School boards in PA can stick the local taxpayers with big debts to fund what one governor called "Taj Mahal" schools. How many high schools in NH have 25 meter regulation pools and planetariums?
Due to a lot of big city dwellers on some form of assistance and a lot of indigent seniors and others on Medicaid and in nursing homes, Pa has a big welfare and Medicaid bill not to mention all of those who are incarcerated. Thankfully, NH does not have that burden- at least not yet.
So PA needs a lot of revenue sources to keep its head above water. But at least seniors are not driven from their homes by property taxes they cannot afford to pay.
25 years ago they said it was inevitable NH was due for an income tax. No thanks then, or now. Any new broad-based tax will be adjusted over time to grow.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Will never last, isn't progressive enough
