Friday, August 8, 2008 Report: New York's tax burden No. 2 in nation The Business Review (Albany)
New York's tax climate is the second most burdensome in the nation, according to an annual report by the Tax Foundation.
The anti-tax group's 2008 study evaluated states by the state and local taxes paid by residents, dividing the amount by total state income to compute a tax burden measure. According to its report, New York taxpayers pay 11.7 percent of their income on state and local taxes, including taxes paid to other states, or $6,419 per capita. New York's per-capita income totaled $55,032.
The tax group distinguishes its annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau's, which counts taxes paid by non-residents in the taxing state. The Tax Foundation, however, includes those taxes in the taxpayers' state. Non-residents include tourists, commuters, businesses and non-resident property owners.
New Yorkers paid $1,573 per capita in taxes to other states.
The foundation said New York has stayed fairly steady in its ranking over the past 30 years, ranking No. 1 or No. 2 since 1977 when New Yorkers paid 12.8 percent of their income on state and local taxes. It was ranked No. 2 for the past three years, and No. 1 for seven consecutive years before that, beginning in 1999.
The nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based foundation said New Jersey residents are the most burdened, paying 11.8 percent of their income in state and local taxes.
Rounding out the top 10 were: Connecticut (11.1 percent), Maryland (10.8 percent), Hawaii (10.6 percent), California (10.5 percent), Ohio (10.4 percent), Vermont (10.3 percent), Wisconsin (10.2 percent) and Rhode Island (10.2 percent).
Alaskans pay the least, or 6.4 percent, and residents in Nevada pay only 6.6 percent. Residents in Wyoming, Florida, New Hampshire and South Dakota all pay less than 8 percent of their income on state and local taxes, according to the study.
Nationally, citizens on average paid 9.7 percent of their income in state and local taxes. The figures dropped from 9.9 percent last year as income grew faster than tax collections between 2007 and 2008, according to the study.
Total state and local corporate income taxes fell 6.6 percent to $55.3 billion in 2008, the report said. Sales taxes grew by 1.7 percent to $436.2 billion. Property taxes jumped more than 4 percent to $397.3 billion. And individual income taxes ticked up 2.7 percent to $298 billion in 2008.
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