Tennessee had fourth lowest tax burden

A new study found Tennesseans bore the fourth-lowest tax burden among U.S. states in fiscal year 2009.
The only states with lower combined state and local taxes per person were South Dakota, Nevada and Alaska.
The study results were reported by the independent Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit tax policy research organization. The study did not consider federal taxes. The study found that Tennesseans on average paid 7.6 percent of their $36,157 per capita income in state and local taxes in 2009. That was equal to $2,752.
The Tax Foundation estimates the average total tax burden for residents of each state. They include taxes paid to a person’s home state and those paid to other states by someone working in, traveling to, owning property in or buying products in those states. The Tax Foundation says its method takes the point of view of the taxpayer, counting all state and local taxes no matter where they are paid.
For example, Alaska—whose residents bear the lowest tax burden—“is able to shift almost 80 percent of its tax collections to residents of other states,’’ primarily through taxes on oil.
Nevada, the second-lowest, shifts much of its tax burden to out-of-state patrons of its casinos.
The study also takes into account state and local taxes paid by businesses, on the theory that businesses pass their tax expenses on to customers.
New Jersey residents had the highest state and local tax burden in fiscal 2009. They paid 12.2 percent of their $55,303 per capita income, or $6,751.
The nation as a whole paid 9.8 percent of its income in state and local taxes. That was down only slightly from 9.9 percent in 2008 but more so from 10.4 percent in 1977, the year the Tax Foundation began making the estimates.