Texans Enjoy One of the Lowest Tax Burdens in the Country

In addition to offering its residents an increasing number of job opportunities as well as one of the most stable housing markets in the country, Texas has also been ranked as one of the least-burdensome states in terms of taxing its citizens.

The Austin Business Journal reported that the Tax Foundation recently released its annual report and listed Texas in the 43rd position, with 1st being the worst, for its tax environment.  The list was compiled by evaluating the state and local taxes that each of the state's residents had to pay.  This amount was then divided by the total amount of income in the state.  According to the Tax Foundation, the average burden was 9.7% of a state resident's income.  Residents of Texas, however, only paid 8.4% of their income in taxes.

The report released by the Tax Foundation is different from the one released by the United States Census Bureau in that the Tax Foundation does not count the taxes paid by non-residents.  These include people such as commuters, tourists and non-resident and business property owners.  In all, the Tax Foundation found that Texans paid $1,498 per capita toward taxes in other states.  On the other hand, the state collected $2,082 per capita from non-residents. 

The state with placing the largest tax burdens on its residents was New Jersey, with a total burden of 11.8%.  Alaska, on the other hand, had the lowest burden with just 6.4%.  In all, the national figures fell by 0.2% from 2007 to 2008.