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Washington state....I'm very happy with how my state taxes and uses the funds. I think we get the best deal in the nation at least for people in my category. We have no state income taxes (great for me as a high income person), we have high taxes on cigs (don't smoke) and alcohol and gas (makes sense to discourage their use). We have good schools, low crime, excellent roads, excellence in virtually every way measurable.
I would venture to say I'm ecstatic at how well our state is run.
There's always room for improvement but I'm relatively happy with how this state spends its approx. 9% tax. My one gripe is that the tax is not progressive. Everyone pays roughly the same: 9%.
Not to single you out or shun your state, but I was looking to relocate there after many of my friends from there moved backed and said I should do the same. I drove through and couldn't see the justification for 9%. I realized I shouldn't judge by looking, my cousin who is an accountant moved there and said she doesn't have an issue with the tax situation. I just can't fathom why some states can do fine on say 3% or 0% (with other taxes to make up for it) while some states need 9% or more?
Also on this forum there is a lot of back and forth on Republicans not wanting high taxes while democrats a little more lenient on higher taxes. How would we explain Idaho's(Rep) higher than average tax rate at 7.5% above $10,XXX. While Washington(Dem) is at 0%. If you are in a republican state would you mined getting more if it means paying more. If you in a democratic state would want to cut your taxes because you don't think they're going far enough?
There's always room for improvement but I'm relatively happy with how this state spends its approx. 9% tax. My one gripe is that the tax is not progressive. Everyone pays roughly the same: 9%.
Seems right to me that everyone pays the same percent. After all, the person paying 9% on 25K is paying $ 2,250 annually in state taxes and the person making 100K is paying $ 9,000. Is the 100K earner getting 4 times the roads to drive on or 4 times the protection from the fire department or a 4 times better public school education for their kid? Nope. They are receiving the exact same benefits as the person earning 25K and already paying 4 times more for the priviledge. That's progressive enough.
I'm perfectly happy with where my income tax in Texas is going. We don't have any :-)
However, I am ashamed to know that about half of my federal income taxes go towards defense. It's ridiculous how much the US spends on defense.
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