Articles Tagged "Taxes"

The California Governor and his party are pushing legislation that would impose higher taxes on the state's more affluent residents, and this tax would carry with them if they moved to Texas.  Dozens of lawsuits will be filed if this legislation passes.   The proposed bill would begin January 2024, hence a considerable move this year to Texas from some of California's more affluent residents.  Other states that are losing so many people to Texas are looking at this wealth tax proposal for their state.  These states include Washington, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland.

- Fox News, January 24, 2023

Texas Ranks 45^th on Taxation

Taxes are one of the few certainties in life — but they do not have to be a great burden. From the checkout counter to the 1040 form due every April, what Americans end up paying in taxes depends largely on where they live.  While all Americans are generally subject to the same federal tax code, each of the 50 states has broad authority to levy its own sales, income, and property taxes — or not.

With data from tax policy advocacy group Tax Foundation, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the total tax burden as a share of income on a per capita basis to identify the states with the lowest and highest tax burden. Federal taxes are not included in the calculation.  While every state government relies on taxes to operate, no two state tax structures are exactly the same. For example, four states do not charge a sales tax and seven states do not levy personal income taxes. In stark contrast, 13 states derive the largest share of their annual tax revenue from sales taxes and nine from personal income taxes.

THE SIX HIGHEST TAXED STATES

1. New York
2. Connecticut
3. New Jersey
4. California
5. Illinois
6. Wisconsin

THE FIVE LOWEST TAXED STATES

45. Texas

           * Taxes paid as percent of income: 7.6%

             * Income per capita: $47,362 (24^th lowest)

             * State Income Tax Collections: -0-  (tied for lowest)

             * Property tax collections per capita: $1,731 (13^th highest)

            * General sales tax collections per capita: $1,151 (5^th highest)

46. Louisiana
47. Tennessee
48. Wyoming
49. South Dakota
50. Alaska

- 24/7 Wall Street, March 2019

SOURCE: Estimates from Texas Education Agency

• Dallas Morning News, July 4, 2018 (excerpts)

  *School districts with relatively low enrollment (below 1,500 students)

Coppell and Highland Park Pay the Most Per Capita

Property taxes continue to rise, but increasingly for taxpayers in North Texas, those dollars aren't going to local school districts.  According to estimates from the Texas Education Agency for the 2018-19 school year, 25 D-FW school districts are expected to surrender $539 million back to the state through recapture, the mechanism designed to better balance school funding between "property-rich" and "property-poor" districts.  Statewide, the TEA estimates that 217 school districts will be subject to recapture for the upcoming school year, with $2.69 billion of local property taxes siphoned back to the state.  

In the North Texas area, Coppell and Highland Park school districts send the most to the state per capita, both classified as "property-rich" districts to help pay for the "property-poor" districts around the state, mostly along the Texas border with Mexico.   Interestingly, Frisco ISD has not been classified as a "property-rich" district but that may change as early as next year, in which then millions of tax dollars will be required to be sent to the state.  This will be a financial dilemma for Frisco since the school district has been unable to get voter approval for higher taxes.