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- 12:23pm — May 23, 2012
independent nonprofit online news
Every year, people and their income move between states. They move for a number of reasons, but there’s ample evidence that cost of living and its relationship to tax burdens are a factor.... Read more»
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3 comments on this story
A couple of points missing from this piece:
What were the levels of interstate income migration in the years preceding the recession?
It’s centered on the assumption that taxes are the major factor in people moving, yet only offers correlation rather than causation.
Why do people move from Illinois and Michigan to Arizona? My parents moved from Wisconsin when I was a kid, and it had quite a bit more to do with a blizzard than with leaving behind decent middle-class jobs in a state that had great government services.
Despite the supposedly onerous tax burden, California has one of the largest economies in the world.
What are your thoughts, dear reader? Are Arizona’s taxes too high - or does our government not offer businesses and residents enough to spark economic growth? Which would be a better investment in our future: cutting taxes or putting money into education and technology?
“It’s centered on the assumption that taxes are the major factor in people moving, yet only offers correlation rather than causation.”
Actually, the headline and the writer’s lead suggest that tax “burdens” are a major factor, but it appears to me that the other factor in the lead – cost of living – has much greater force.
Tax – and how it varies from state to state, and city to city – is a component of the cost of living, and a relatively small one, for most people.
As you note, people move for a variety of reasons. I think those reasons are mostly positive (i.e. the search for better opportunity) than negative (i.e. fleeing an onerous tax burden).
@Dylan Smith
I meant to comment on this yesterday…but I forgot somehow. Your link in the January 8 anniversary story reminded me to opine. Thanks!
FAR too high! Let’s put it into perspective by shooting out a ROUGH list of revenue sources this state has, shall we?
-Among the highest income tax in the nation
-5% Sales tax on everything sold in the state (except groceries)
-5% of the take from every casino
-astronomical car registration fees (last I checked, we were second-highest only to Hawaii, but it’s been a while since I checked that)
Now, considering that the population of the entire state is something like 4 million people…how much money do we really need to run things around here???
I’m really not a fan of both regressive and progressive taxes. I understand to function the state needs money, but taxing people on the way in AND the on the way out is unnecessary and unethical.
I prefer eliminating income tax and relying on sales tax. That way, when the people are hurting and must tighten their purse straps, the government would have to follow suit.