09.17.07
Posted in politics, life, education at 8:04 pm by Brandon
Okay, this is the last tax post for a while, I promise. But I did a little research and dug up some numbers which seem to really support my hypothesis that Michigan really is a low tax state in comparison with the rest of the country.
In Michigan in 2007, the federally defined level of poverty for a family of four was $20,650. If one lived in any of the 49 other states or Washington D.C., one would pay the following income tax rates based on that salary (please don’t let the lack of alphabetical order throw you):
State Tax Rate
Alabama 5%
Arizona 3.05%
California 4%
Connecticut 5%
Florida 0%
Hawaii 7.6%
Illinois 3%
Iowa 6.48%
Kentucky 5.8%
Maine 8.5%
Massachusetts 5.3%
Mississippi 5%
Montana 6.9%
Nevada 0%
New Jersey 1.75%
New York 6.85%
North Dakota 2.1%
Oklahoma 6.25%
Pennsylvania 3.07%
South Carolina 7%
Tennessee 6% (Taxes only on dividend and interest income)
Utah 6.98%
Virginia 5.75%
Wisconsin 6.5%
Washington D.C. 7%
Alaska 0%
Arkansas 4.5%
Colorado 4.63%
Delaware 5.2%
Georgia 6%
Idaho 7.4%
Indiana 3.4%
Kansas 6.25%
Louisiana 4%
Maryland 4.75%
Minnesota 5.35%
Missouri 6%
Nebraska 5.12%
New Hampshire 5%
New Mexico 5.3%
North Carolina 7%
Ohio 4.083%
Oregon 9%
Rhode Island 3.75%
South Dakota 0%
Texas 0%
Vermont 3.6%
West Virginia 4%
Wyoming 0%
Washington 0%
That’s right, at the poverty level, 34 other states (and Washington D.C.) are charging their residents MORE income taxes than Michigan.
Furthermore, at several states (who have graduated income tax rates) individuals earning median income levels pay more income taxes than we do here in Michigan! For example in Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Arizona one would pay a greater percentage of their income in income tax than in Michigan if one earned a median income for those states.
That makes 38 states and Washington D.C. that expect their residents to pay more than Michigan expects its residents to pay.
We are a low-tax state. It is catching up with us.
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Posted in politics, life, education at 8:04 pm by Brandon
Okay, this is the last tax post for a while, I promise. But I did a little research and dug up some numbers which seem to really support my hypothesis that Michigan really is a low tax state in comparison with the rest of the country.
In Michigan in 2007, the federally defined level of poverty for a family of four was $20,650. If one lived in any of the 49 other states or Washington D.C., one would pay the following income tax rates based on that salary (please don’t let the lack of alphabetical order throw you):
State Tax Rate
Alabama 5%
Arizona 3.05%
California 4%
Connecticut 5%
Florida 0%
Hawaii 7.6%
Illinois 3%
Iowa 6.48%
Kentucky 5.8%
Maine 8.5%
Massachusetts 5.3%
Mississippi 5%
Montana 6.9%
Nevada 0%
New Jersey 1.75%
New York 6.85%
North Dakota 2.1%
Oklahoma 6.25%
Pennsylvania 3.07%
South Carolina 7%
Tennessee 6% (Taxes only on dividend and interest income)
Utah 6.98%
Virginia 5.75%
Wisconsin 6.5%
Washington D.C. 7%
Alaska 0%
Arkansas 4.5%
Colorado 4.63%
Delaware 5.2%
Georgia 6%
Idaho 7.4%
Indiana 3.4%
Kansas 6.25%
Louisiana 4%
Maryland 4.75%
Minnesota 5.35%
Missouri 6%
Nebraska 5.12%
New Hampshire 5%
New Mexico 5.3%
North Carolina 7%
Ohio 4.083%
Oregon 9%
Rhode Island 3.75%
South Dakota 0%
Texas 0%
Vermont 3.6%
West Virginia 4%
Wyoming 0%
Washington 0%
That’s right, at the poverty level, 34 other states (and Washington D.C.) are charging their residents MORE income taxes than Michigan.
Furthermore, at several states (who have graduated income tax rates) individuals earning median income levels pay more income taxes than we do here in Michigan! For example in Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Arizona one would pay a greater percentage of their income in income tax than in Michigan if one earned a median income for those states.
That makes 38 states and Washington D.C. that expect their residents to pay more than Michigan expects its residents to pay.
We are a low-tax state. It is catching up with us.
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Nicole said,
September 17, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Brandon,
I feel ya and agree with you, about the tax and funding issue. Where did you get these numbers? Because TN has no state income tax, yet here it lists 6%. Were there other factors (TN’s ungodly sales tax rate?) that were factored into this number?
Nicole
Brandon said,
September 17, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Hey Nicole, long time no see (are you a doc yet?),
I got the tax data as of Dec 21, 2006 at:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/228.html
Not sure what the deal is w/ Tennessee, it’s listed at 6% in the document.
On second view, this document:
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/ind_inc.html
Shows that Tenessee’s taxes are limited to dividend and interest income only…however all the other states should be correct. My list is noted for this correction.