Karl reports on a trip to a Home Depot in Virginia while there to visit with family over the holiday weekend:
... They were talking about installation and material cost and when Randy told the guy we were from Massachusetts and would likely buy the door there, the sales guy said the door would be the same price up there, but then you'd have to pay all those taxes sinces we're from "Taxachusetts." Randy agreed with the guy then changed subjects. Meanwhile, I started stewing and asked what the state sales tax was in VA.
The sales guy said it was 5% ... which, incidentally, is the same as Massachusetts. ...
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Comments
Us poor crazy
By librul
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 12:21pm
Us poor crazy Li'bruls!
Facts be told, MA taxes aren't that high in relation to other states, especially well to do states.
It's a leftover from the 70's and 80's when we had to dig ourselfs out of a hole.
In fact, when you factor in the Fee's and property taxes you end up paying in NH, income taken away from you is just about the same.
That said, property values are much lower which is the real reason for flight to NH.
On the other hand ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 12:28pm
I've seen assessments of which states have high federal tax burdens relative to how much they get back ...
and lets just say that all the "low tax southern states" like Virginia owe us big time. If their state taxes are low (big "if" there), it is partly because we are subsidizing their "low tax" arses from our outsize fed payouts!
As for NH, well, you take it up the wazoo in property taxes and fees for everything. There is no free lunch.
Here here Last time I
By Damn Yankee
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 12:51pm
Here here
Last time I checked we were losing over 10 cents for every dollar we put in federally, even with the Big Dig factored in. Seems to me like Ginia is imposing a 10 percent tax on our taxes, and seeing as I pay about 20 percent of my income on federal taxes (I think, its hard to tell, I pay about 30 percent total in taxes from all payroll sources) that means I am being taxed at 2 percent to help those low tax southern states keep afloat. Bastards
More like 23 cents per dollar
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 12:54pm
See this handy map that shows just how much we do subsidize Virginia and other
freeloadinglow tax Southern havens.$2 for every $1 of federal tax paid.
By Anonymous
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 7:36pm
New Mexico spends $2 for every $1 of federal tax paid. Good deal for them. I wonder if New Mexicans for McCain like his idea of eliminating earmarks.
That map almost directly
By JT
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 5:19pm
That map almost directly corresponds with the income of the state. We don't owe you shit and never will. You ignored us when we were starving and the rest of the country was prosperous (My granddad group up without shoes in the summer and eating fatback for protein during the "Roaring"-at least for the north-Twenties) and you constantly disrespect us and talk about how we're not "cultured" although if you listen to music-at least rock, country, jazz, blues, bluegrass, or soul- that comes from here. And now northerners are coming down here because of our jobs (because of low taxes) and our climate, which is rightfully ours to enjoy since we lived here before air conditioning.
Huh?
By Gareth
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 6:54pm
Quick quiz: how many of the ten dark blue states on the map were in the Confederacy?
How many?
By JT
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 7:56pm
Tell me.
Four
By Gareth
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 9:02pm
Four out of ten.
So I'm thinking that doesn't fit too well with your theory. The other part that doesn't fit is state wealth. Alaska, for example, is the fourth-wealthiest state (by median income) in the country - wealthier that Massachusetts, as is Virginia. Hawaii is also far wealthier than average.
The transfer isn't going from Northern states to Southern states, and it isn't going from wealthy states to poor states. It's going, for the most part, from states whose congressmen were in the minority party in 2004 to states whose congressmen were in the majority party in 2004. This map shows who were the first pigs at the trough in 2004.
NH taxes
By Gary McGath
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 2:01pm
If you flee to New Hampshire for the lower property values, keep in mind the sales tax on real estate (they don't call it a sales tax, of course), which is huge. And property taxes, especially near the border, are quite painful.
Sales Tax
By anon
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 1:01pm
In good old Red State Nebraska, sales tax in Omaha is 8% and they even pay sales tax on clothes.
Sales tax actually tends to
By Afty
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 1:12pm
Sales tax actually tends to be higher in red states because it's a regressive tax. So they tend to trade off a lower income tax for higher sales tax.
Regressive taxes make
By BillionairsForBush
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 2:03pm
Regressive taxes make puppies and unicorns happy.
Anything else makes the baby Jesus cry!
In case anyone wants to
By Jeff Egnaczyk
Tue, 07/08/2008 - 1:55pm
In case anyone wants to entire tax breakdown.
Ahahah!
By Abby
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 1:54pm
Scariness. Well, I moved from Boston to Raleigh. I grew up in Atlanta and have also lived in Indiana, Ohio, and Memphis, TN.
Here's my take. You met a jerk. What I've found is that there are jerks in Boston, jerks in the North, jerks in the South. People tend to use stereotypes a lot - everywhere. And the stereotypes that people in New England hold about people in the South are just about as true as the stereotypes people in the South hold about people in New England. I could have substituted other pairings just as easily: city-dwellers/people who live in small towns or rural areas, black/white, rich/poor, etc.
And what I've also noticed is that people who are from one place move to another place, and then they go about collecting evidence for why where they USED to live is so much better than where they live now. So lots of people will move back to where they started life and propogate even MORE stereotypes about the dreaded other places.
I know just as many liberals in Raleigh as I did in Boston. True story!
One believe I do still hold is that the ice cream is better in Boston. No idea why, but it's true.
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