Tax rant....

[Upstate Dave]

Living in one of the highest taxed states in the nation, perhaps I can add to this discussion. When calculating taxes you must also try to capture all the other various fees charged for every little thing. Such as tolls, water commisions, registrations, communication surcharges (phone & cable), licenses, application fees....... you get the idea. Also, a complete comparison of what items are charged sales tax is useful. I suppose if your coming from a local with comparable taxes & fees it becomes a push for quality of life.

Where I live, we are taxed for lots of little things, as well as the big ones. What we get for that could be considered lower pocket costs for things... example: the fee for a state camping site might be lower than what Virginia's state campground might charge. Some states have high vehicle registration & licensing fees, while in VA you pay the local government the property tax. Personally, I like the idea of the local gov'ment charging the fees for things I choose to do or buy. I can control my taxes (to some degree) with my choices, and the money (I assume) goes to the place where I live.

I realize I haven't really given you any useful data, but I hope this helps. For myself, I look forward to the day I can live in the beautiful Blue Ridge area with some kind of relief from government coupled with a stable and growing economy..... and less snow!

[MyCitySearchName]

I am on the polar opposite of your taxes I think...NM is a fairly easy place to live in.....I just don't like the area I'm in.

I'm tired of everything being brown, dusty and pokey. Bring on the green!

[seanpecor]

I'm getting mine from the Tax Foundation, the same source used by the links you've provided. But I'm only addressing local tax burden; the MSN/Money link you provided also bandies about the federal tax burden which isn't truly meant as a tool for comparing cost of living. They should fix that flash map, it's completely misleading. The federal tax burden is affected by things like the EITC (earned income tax credit), so for example, there is a borough in the Bronx that actually has a negative tax burden because lots of folks have lots of kids (more EITC for each kid) and have low incomes; the result being that they receive more tax refund than they pay in taxes. Make sense? So I'd stick entirely with looking at JUST the local tax burden when you're comparing places.

Sean

[Upstate Dave]

Right on Sean, I always assume the federal tax will be the same for me where ever I live... and as such do not use that for comparisons.

[htlong]

va does tax anything that moves, but not my lawn mower ...yet,
but it doesnt place a city tax on you for working in the city as my last state i lived in did.
i lived in ohio and when i moved to va i didnt notify them about my move and i was deducted a total of $70.00 a month just for city taxes back in ohio, compare that to a car tax of 400 dollars a year , and its not so bad, unless you own 8 vehicles as i do then it kind of smartzzzzz !!!
i couldnt believe va taxed groceries whan i moved here, or food to go, hampton/newport news has a 10% rest.tax so i wont go out for a nice meal there but the fast food still gets to my wallet.
all in all its something you get used to and it only hurts because its a one time yearly bill rather than small amounts taken out of your pay check weekly.
about the lawn mower, when a new co-worker starts complaining about having to get his car inspected, a few days later i will come in and casually mention to a co worker that i just got my state mower inspected and i have gotten the sticker and im ready for summer! lol

[Cattknap]

Thanks Sean - I appreciate the info.