Now, I show you how the various states stack up against each other. First, let's look at states by Individual Burden as measured by the sum of per capita True Income and True Sales taxes paid against those 18 and old in each state.
True Individual Tax Burden (per capita, 18+ in GW$)
The 21 worst states in which anyone could live are these:
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Minnesota
- California
- New York
- Massachusetts
- North Dakota
- New Jersey
- Nebraska
- Maryland
- Kansas
- Wisconsin
- Arkansas
- Maine
- Illinois
- Rhode Island
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Virginia
- Utah
The top 21 states' legislators tax their adult citizens so much of these states skew the average. The top 29 least taxing states' legislators with the lowest individual burdens fall below the average.
That Connecticut tops the list fails to surprise me. Only the other day, before running the numbers here, I came across this work by Annie Lowrey, What’s the Matter With Connecticut?
Though Ms. Lowrey has it right that something is wrong in Connecticut, foolishly, she claims that Thomas Piketty's book has the answer. Of course, regular readers of Bizarro Theater know that born-again socialism revivalist preacher Piketty is quite wrong. For those who have yet to learn why the past creates the future rather than Piketty's expressed foolery — the past devours the future — read these:
- THOMAS PIKETTY, 696 PAGES OF FOOLERY DESTROYED IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES
- UT OH, SOMEONE BETTER TELL THOMAS PIKETTY ABOUT L > G TOO.
- MORE BAD NEWS FOR THOMAS PIKETTY P > G TOO!
- THOMAS PIKETTY, REVIVALIST PREACHER OF BORN-AGAIN SOCIALISM. THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING OF SOCIALISM HAS COME TO AMERICA
Consequently, inefficiencies build up in the economy, with some goods being over-produced and other goods, under-produced. Worse, unearned buying power gets put into the hands of some who then push up prices than what would otherwise be gained by sellers. Overtime, such meddling leads to a wind-down of the economy as true profits become harder to gain both for firms and individuals.
Here are the top 15 Least Taxing States for imposing individual burdens.
- Alaska
- New Hampshire
- Montana
- Texas
- Florida
- South Dakota
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Wyoming
- Delaware
- South Carolina
- Georgia
True Personal Income Tax Paid, 18+ in GW$
Not surprisingly, the list for highest personal income tax burdens appears quite alike to the list of individual tax burdens.
Here are the 21 worst states in which anyone could live:
- Connecticut
- New York
- Massachusetts
- California
- Minnesota
- Oregon
- Delaware
- New Jersey
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Illinois
- Hawaii
- Nebraska
- Wisconsin
- Utah
And here are the top 9 best states by least personal income tax:
- Alaska
- Florida
- Nevada
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Tennessee
- New Hampshire
Moving on, let's look at the True Sales Tax burden. Right, because if legislators don't get you one way, they get you another.
True Sales Tax Burden (per capita, 18+ in GW$)
Of the two, income tax or sales, I prefer sales tax. An income tax is an unearned share of profits for which legislators have not invested any capital either in firms or workers. Thus, an income tax is highly anti-capitalistic.
When a sales tax is borne by the buyer, it is up to the buyer to decide whether or not to pay the toll to legislators to enjoy goods bought from the fruits of work sold in purchases and sales of work for cash or credit. Such a tax is a wealth tax.
When a sales tax is borne by the seller, and in some states this is the method even though customers fail to know this and fall prey to the seller pushing the tax upon the buyer, such a tax also is anti-capitalistic, as it is a levy against capital.
For more on the kinds of taxes that exist in life, check out IF YOU DRIVE A CAR, I'LL TAX THE STREET. IF YOU TRY TO SIT, I'LL TAX YOUR SEAT. MR. WILSON. MR. HEATH. Also, you should read, ELITES SEEK TO PUNISH WORKERS WITH A CONSUMPTION TAX, OR A TAX ON WORKERS' WEALTH.
Here are the 20 worst states whose legislators levy the true highest sales taxes while also burdening the citizens with personal income taxes.
- Hawaii
- North Dakota
- Connecticut
- Mississippi
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- New Mexico
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- Nebraska
- California
- Idaho
- Maine
Here are the states whose legislators levy sales taxes but no personal income taxes.
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Nevada
- South Dakota
- Florida
- Texas
The legislators of Alaska neither levy sales tax nor personal income tax.
Now, let's see how states' legislators treat their fictional personhood friends.
True Corporate Income Tax Paid, per firm in GW$
Straight away, I acknowledge that presenting these figures suffer a small flaw. The firm count as reported in the Statistics of U.S. Businesses by the Census Bureau, though the latest figures available, only runs through 2011. Nonetheless, it's fairly accurate.
Here are the states whose legislators treat firms the worst.
- Alaska
- New Hampshire
- Illinois
- Massachusetts
- North Dakota
- Delaware
- California
- New Jersey
- Tennessee
- Mississippi
- Minnesota
- Pennsylvania
- Connecticut
- New York
- Kentucky
- Wisconsin
- Maryland
- New Mexico
- Nebraska
Likely, the legislators of Alaska and North Dakota sock it to oil and nat gas drillers.
And here are the states with the lowest corporate tax burden, falling in the top 25% lowest.
- Nevada
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Missouri
- Rhode Island
- Montana
- Michigan
- Florida
- Virginia
- Oklahoma
The New Hampshire ratio is 24 times higher than the next closest state's legislators, Tennessee. Alaska is 10 times New Hampshire as Alaskans lack an individual burden of sales and personal income taxes.
True Corporate Income Tax Paid (per firm) to True Individual Tax Burden (per capita, 18+) in GW$
You can think of this map revealing a proxy for competitiveness among the states' legislatures.
Here are the states falling above the average whose legislators like tax corporate entities higher than citizens.
- Tennessee
- Delaware
- Illinois
- Mississippi
- Pennsylvania
- Massachusetts
- Kentucky
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Florida
- California
- Montana
- Alabama
- New Mexico
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- South Carolina
- Indiana
- Arizona
- Minnesota
- Maryland
And here are the states falling below the average.
- Nevada
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyoming
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Hawaii
- Missouri
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Virginia
- Michigan
- Idaho
- Oklahoma
- Utah
- Oregon
- Iowa
- New York
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Vermont
- Arkansas
- Georgia
True Total Taxes Paid, per capita in GW$
When accounting for other taxes such as licenses, here are the top states with the lowest total taxes levied per capita whose legislators beat the average.
- New Hampshire
- Florida
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Missouri
- Arizona
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Louisiana
- Colorado
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Utah
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Nevada
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
- Nebraska
- Rhode Island
- Maine
- New Mexico
- Wisconsin
- West Virginia
And overall, here are the worst states in which anyone could live.
- North Dakota
- Connecticut
- Vermont
- Minnesota
- Hawaii
- Wyoming
- Alaska
- New York
- California
- Massachusetts
- Delaware
- New Jersey
- Maryland
- Arkansas
- Illinois