Red states, especially in the South, love to boast about their low taxes, because they think it’s an inducement for businesses to move to those states. To take two examples, Florida has no state income tax, and Mississippi does not tax income from Social Security and pensions.
Unfortunately, state governments are not like Spanish moss, which is incorrectly thought of as a parasitic plant but actually obtains all the nutrients it needs from the air. Governments aren’t so lucky; they need revenue, and if they don’t get it from income taxes, they’ll find something else to tax.
Alabama has a 10% sales tax, with no exemption for food. Florida gouges tourists, with toll roads all over the place and taxes on hotel rooms. In Biloxi, Mississippi there’s talk of using infrastructure money to build a new, badly needed bridge and making it a toll road
Red states, especially in the South, love to boast about their low taxes, because they think it’s an inducement for businesses to move to those states. To take two examples, Florida has no state income tax, and Mississippi does not tax income from Social Security and pensions.
Unfortunately, state governments are not like Spanish moss, which is incorrectly thought of as a parasitic plant but actually obtains all the nutrients it needs from the air. Governments aren’t so lucky; they need revenue, and if they don’t get it from income taxes, they’ll find something else to tax.
Alabama has a 10% sales tax, with no exemption for food. Florida gouges tourists, with toll roads all over the place and taxes on hotel rooms. In Biloxi, Mississippi there’s talk of using infrastructure money to build a new, badly needed bridge and making it a toll road