PA in the top 10 highest taxes. Add that to our school tax in Allegheny C. Ouch! (York: 2013, home)

[gg]

states-pay-most-least-taxes-247wallst: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

[barneyg]

Interesting. Three comments:

1) Taxes paid include property taxes, I would assume this includes school taxes too. Makes no sense not to.

2) I'd like to see those numbers with and without alcohol/tobacco taxes. I could care less about being taxed on those items and am definitely unaffected by the amount of tobacco taxes in the state -- to me, higher tobacco taxes mean (all else equal) lower taxes for me.

3) the difference between PA (10th highest taxes) and NJ (highest taxes) is the same as the difference between PA and NH (7th lowest taxes). In other words except for states at the very extreme the ranking really doesn't mean much.

[gg]

Originally Posted by barneyg

Interesting. Three comments:

1) Taxes paid include property taxes, I would assume this includes school taxes too. Makes no sense not to.

If it is state tax, how could they come up with Allegheny school tax as a rate? We are very high in school taxes in our county compared to any surrounding counties, so one needs to add that in as a higher expense than those living in... well about any other county.

I found it interesting that most of the states that are heavily taxed are primarily blue states. On the other hand, the states that are taxed lower aren't where I would like to live except NH.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I found it interesting that most of the states that are heavily taxed are primarily blue states. On the other hand, the states that are taxed lower aren't where I would like to live except NH.

Also tend to be net donors to the Federal government in terms of taxes while the least taxed states tend to be net gainers, again perhaps interestingly with the exception of New Hampshire.

[Bong477]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

If it is state tax, how could they come up with Allegheny school tax as a rate? We are very high in school taxes in our county compared to any surrounding counties, so one needs to add that in as a higher expense than those living in... well about any other county.

I found it interesting that most of the states that are heavily taxed are primarily blue states. On the other hand, the states that are taxed lower aren't where I would like to live except NH.

Couple points.

1) These lists make assumptions, your individual tax paid may vary substantially depending on income, spending habits, home value, etc.

2) Allegheny County pays (very) high property taxes as a percentage of home value, but taken as a percentage of income its much less of a drastic difference from the norm, albeit still high.

3) The difference between the 10th and 41st state is only about 2%. Not nearly as much as I'd bet most people think.

[hempfield mania]

Did ya notice PA still has the highest corporate tax rate? No wonder businesses don't want to be here.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

Did ya notice PA still has the highest corporate tax rate? No wonder businesses don't want to be here.

Right, and did you notice this:
"New York places much of its tax burden on residents from other states. Consider, for example, the amount of state revenue derived from New York City tourism, or those who commute to the city for work."

That's why nobody goes to New York on vacation or commutes into the City from other states to work.

The point is that it's very difficult to draw any conclusions from these brief snippets and you expose yourself as merely the proponent of soundbite ideology with a post like yours. This is exactly the type of post that drives me crazy. You offer no proof for your assertion, not even anecdotal.

Do businesses not want to be here? Really? I've not noticed or seen that responsively reported. I'd love to see something that actually backs up your blithe statement. I suspect it's rather a knee jerk reaction to all taxes all the time being evil, another pet peeve.

PA has the highest nominal corporate tax rates, true as far as it goes. Effective corporate tax rates? What about all of the other taxes and transfer fees that effect businesses? Simply no discussion.

Might I suggest reading this:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp60.pdf (broken link)
It's from a pro-business, right wing group and it puts PA squarely in the middle (#26) of all States as far as corporate tax environments, far from hostile.

[hempfield mania]

My point is, if PA had a "friendlier" corporate tax structure, more businesses would be willing to relocate here without having to be bribed by 5-10-15 year abatements. More businesses, more workers, more income tax revenue and maybe, just maybe, the state income tax rate could also be lowered.

But you are right, much better to just tax the HE L L out of 'em and let the chips fall...

[pman]

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

Did ya notice PA still has the highest corporate tax rate? No wonder businesses don't want to be here.

this is definitely one tax the state needs to address in some way. it just means lower revenue (and a greater burden shouldered by the citizens).

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Originally Posted by pman

this is definitely one tax the state needs to address in some way. it just means lower revenue (and a greater burden shouldered by the citizens).

But don't you know those filthy corporations are ruining the world and abusing people left and right and nothing good ever came from not taxing a corporation into the ground?