On a mission to find state with lowest taxes (transplants, sales)

[Global CitiZen X]

A good place to start I thought would be with the states with no state income tax.

So that leaves a few.

Out of those few I looked at those with no corporate tax.

That leaves fewer.

Then I further narrowed it down to those with the lowest property taxes. (Yes Alabama and Louisiana have the lowest in the nation, but also have state tax. Deal-breaker. Get it? )

So in my nonscientific/just-for-fun research I came up with.........Drumroll please....................... ......................

SOUTH DAKOTA!

I so badly was routing for Wyoming and Alaska. But alas, no dice. It's S.D., and if you live near the Montana border then you can avoid a sales tax.

What say you?

[8to32characters]

Wyoming, South Dakota, and Alaska have the lowest taxes in the country. However, the cost of goods in Alaska is much more expensive than just about any other state in the union, save Hawaii, because of how expensive it is to ship goods to Alaska. Have you ever wondered why Alaska has no sales tax and Hawaii's is very low? For the cost of shipping alone, since one is an exclave of the U.S. and the other is an archipelago of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Nevada has pretty low taxes, too--no state income tax, low property taxes, no property tax on automobiles, etc. However, sales taxes in Nevada are high, as the State of Nevada collects most of its revenue from sales taxes in addition to gaming revenue. The sheer ruggedness and remoteness of Nevada make it one of the most scarily beautiful states in the country, IMO.

One of my closest friends in Arizona is from Wyoming, and I also have a co-worker from Alaska and another from South Dakota--all very wonderful people, I might add. I've known a few native Montanans out here, too--very laid back, kind people as well. I don't think you could wrong with any of those states, especially with regard to people quality.

It's so nice, for a change, to be around people from those states instead of people from New York and New Jersey--you really have no idea unless you've lived or spent a considerable amount of time in either Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina such as myself. That said, avoid Florida like the plague.

[Dawn.Davenport]

I think I remember hearing somewhere that New Hampshire was the lowest.

[ckhthankgod]

Taxes by State

[Dawn.Davenport]

OK, Wikipedia to the rescue: State tax levels in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are the bottom ten by average amount of money each resident pays a year in state taxes:
50) Georgia - $1,671
49) New Hampshire - $1,672
48) South Carolina - $1,701
47) Florida - $1,708
46) Missouri $1,793
45) South Dakota - $1,826
44) Tennessee - $1,856
43) Texas - $1,865
42) Alabama - $1,876
41) Louisiana - $1,954

And here are the top ten
1) Alaska - $9,638
2) North Dakota - $8,033
3) Wyoming - $4,436
4) Vermont - $4,405
5) Connecticut - $4,290
6) Hawaii - $3,962
7) Minnesota - $3,822
8) New York - $3,656
9) Delaware - $3,650
10) Massachusetts - $3,431

[nep321]

Why do people concern themselves with taxes so much? In the grand scheme of things, it's a marginal impact. Besides, the states with the highest taxes also tend to have the highest paying jobs. And don't forget, the higher the state taxes, the higher deductions you can take on your federal return to reduce your federal tax liability. This diminishes the advantage of paying lower state taxes.

[Global CitiZen X]

Originally Posted by nep321

Why do people concern themselves with taxes so much? In the grand scheme of things, it's a marginal impact. Besides, the states with the highest taxes also tend to have the highest paying jobs. And don't forget, the higher the state taxes, the higher deductions you can take on your federal return to reduce your federal tax liability. This diminishes the advantage of paying lower state taxes.

yes, but if your income is independent of where you live. And you are a high income earner as well. Then living in say a South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska, etc. Can be quite beneficial to you. So it concerns people like that.
Or if you are retired. Living in a Florida (no state tax) or a Wyoming (no state tax, does not tax retirement from other states) would better if you are retired in California which is a tax nightmare.

Also, some people may take issue of where and why they are being taxed; in a personal liberty perspective.
Some Americans may object to being charged a sales tax. I know people that loathe and are against the sales tax, yet don't mind a state tax. Vice versa.
I personally don't "mind" a sales tax. As long as it is capped or low. But I couldn't be bothered with a state tax. If you can avoid it by living in a certain state. Then color me there.
And low property taxes as well. However I would pay "highish" property taxes, but as for state taxes....no dice!! LOL

Those are some of the reasons why people concern themselves with taxes so much.

Originally Posted by Dawn.Davenport

I think I remember hearing somewhere that New Hampshire was the lowest.

Thought the same thing. And in many ways they do, but they also have to highest property taxes in America, above the national average. And they don't necessarily have an state income tax per se, but tax dividends, etc.
So.......

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by nep321

Why do people concern themselves with taxes so much? In the grand scheme of things, it's a marginal impact. Besides, the states with the highest taxes also tend to have the highest paying jobs. And don't forget, the higher the state taxes, the higher deductions you can take on your federal return to reduce your federal tax liability. This diminishes the advantage of paying lower state taxes.

Also, it is one aspect of overall cost of living, as you still have other costs to consider as well. With that said, I can understand the concern due to some of the reasons given.

[NaleyRocks]

I'm most concerned with property taxes. I know people in NY who are looking to move solely due to being unable to afford property taxes. We currently pay about $3k-$4k in property taxes per $100k in value. It's just too much in a rural area with absolutely nothing to do.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by nep321

Why do people concern themselves with taxes so much? In the grand scheme of things, it's a marginal impact. Besides, the states with the highest taxes also tend to have the highest paying jobs. And don't forget, the higher the state taxes, the higher deductions you can take on your federal return to reduce your federal tax liability. This diminishes the advantage of paying lower state taxes.

It's a social disease. I live in Florida where people flee to evade paying taxes and the self-entitlement exhibited by the transplants for freebies or discounts is appalling. They want the best of everything but don't want to have to pay for it....which defies all logic.