Tax think tank tags N.C. at No. 20

Here's the latest take on how heavy your state and local tax burden is if you live in North Carolina. The latest annual report by the Tax Foundation ranks N.C. 20th among the 50 states. (50 is the lowest burden, No. 1 is highest, a spot claimed this year by New Jersey, which can now boast it's the Garden State of taxes.)
The report released today, "State-Local burdens dip as Income Growth Outpaces Tax Growth" is notable because it counts the tax dollars people spend in states besides the ones where they live. In other words, the taxes you pay when you travel to Florida to Disneyworld.
Here's some of what today's report said, and the link to read it.

"The nation as a whole paid 9.7% of its income in state-local taxes, down from 9.9% in 2007 primarily because income grew faster than tax collections between
2007 and 2008.

New Jersey residents paid 11.8%, topping the charts. New Yorkers were close behind, paying 11.7%, and Connecticut was third at 11.1%. The top ten were rounded out by Maryland (10.8%), Hawaii (10.6%), California (10.5%), Ohio (10.4%),Vermont(10.3%), Wisconsin (10.2%) and Rhode Island (10.2%)."

The Tax Foundation dates back to 1937 and describes itself as a non-partisan, non-profit. But it has been criticized by liberal-leaning think tanks for how it calculates its annual Tax Freedom Day ranking.
In Daily Views' experience, almost all tax reports done by such non-profits have to be vetted carefully.
Send us links of ones you think are worth paying attention to.
- Posted by Mary Schulken