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How can some states get by with no income tax? – Vonnie, age 12, Auburn, Alabama

Right before I was born in the 1970s, my family moved to Texas from Nebraska. A big reason was because Texas was – and still is – considered a low-tax state, and my dad wanted to start his business there.

Texas is also one of nine states that don’t have an income tax on the “earned income” of people working there.

That doesn’t mean Texas doesn’t impose any taxes on its residents – it does. Texas has other taxes to help pay for schools, hospitals, health care, roads, airports, firefighters, business loans, public safety and all kinds of other public services. For example, Texas has some of the highest property tax rates in the United States.

Understanding the kinds of taxes that states can collect can be complicated. As a tax professor and policy expert, it’s my job to explain how our tax system is designed and operates.

Why states get to make the rules

In general, states have the power to tax their residents. When residents choose to live in a state, they benefit from that state’s laws and protections and pay taxes as part of sharing the costs of government.

Like how the U.S. Constitution gives the U.S. government the right to impose federal taxes, every state has its own state constitution and laws that may impose taxes on a range of items. They might tax earned income from wages, money earned from investments, purchases of alcohol, fuel, tobacco or groceries, or any number of other items, industries and activities, such as sports events and hotel stays. There are lots of different kinds of taxes, and every state has unique rules.

Not just politicians decide what and how much tax to collect. Citizens often vote on whether to impose, increase or eliminate state taxes. For example, on Election Day in November 2024, voters in some states will be asked whether they want the state to increase taxes to fund social programs. In Oregon, voters will decide whether to increase taxes on corporations operating there to pay for a new anti-poverty program.

Among the states that do have a personal income tax on wages, the tax rates can either be the same percentage of everyone’s income or they can vary depending on how big the person’s paycheck is. In some states, tax rates increase as a taxpayer makes more money.

No income tax doesn’t mean tax-free

The nine states that don’t have an earned income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Two of those – New Hampshire and Washington – do tax some income, such as money earned from stocks and other investments, but they don’t tax income earned from working.

When a state doesn’t impose income taxes, it often imposes other taxes to pay for education, roads, health care and other public services.

In some cases, states will impose higher sales taxes or higher property taxes, such as taxes on a person’s home value. Or they may rely on cities and counties to impose those taxes to pay for services. For example, Tennessee has no state income tax, but it has one of the highest combined state and local sales tax rates – 9.548% – of any state.

On the other hand, Alaska is one of the lowest-tax states. It does not have a state income tax or state sales tax. Alaska does, however, have a state property tax, and it is able to impose significant taxes on the oil and gas companies that operate there. Its cities and other local jurisdictions can also impose sales tax at the local level, and they often do.

Pros and cons of no state income tax

There are both benefits and drawbacks to living in states that don’t impose a state income tax.

You might save money. But that doesn’t mean you will pay no taxes, and there are trade-offs to consider. Sometimes, states with no income taxes do not have the best public services.

For example, you may want to move to a state such as Texas to avoid paying income taxes, but you will need to be prepared to pay more for health care. In general, Texas has some of the lowest government spending on health care or public transportation.

When states impose higher property taxes or sales taxes to bring in enough money to make up for the lack of an income tax, that can also affect the overall affordability of living in a no-income-tax state.

This matters the most for lower-income people because state sales taxes have a greater impact on overall affordability. For example, students going to college and working part time may have low incomes. But if they live in a state with a high sales tax instead of an income tax, they will be paying the same high rate as fully employed people with much higher incomes. As a result, the students may struggle more to make ends meet than the full-time worker.

Remember, too, that in most cases, Americans still pay some tax on their income. Even if a person isn’t subject to state income tax, the majority of the U.S. population pays federal income tax, and for many people, those federal taxes are quite a bit higher than any state income tax.

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Caroline Bruckner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.