There is always complains about the federal income tax. For starters, there is always too much tax. Unfortunately, unless you decide to move to an other country, there is not much you can do about it.
State and local tax, on the other hand, is a quite different matter.
The biggest portion of state and local tax consists of income tax, property tax and sales tax.
There are seven states have no personal income tax at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
There are two states tax dividend and interest income only: New Hampshire and Tennessee
If you do not have the fortune to live in one of the nine states, then consider the combination of sales, property and income tax:
The lowest property tax are from: Arkansas, New Jersey, Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky. It is obvious that Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky are the lowest in property tax is because no one wants to live there. New Jersey and Connecticut have attractive property taxes. They are obviously alternative to NYC apartments. One thing be aware is that the property cost is very high in these states and a smaller percentage is still a lots of money.
Fatcat would like to point out New Jersey gas stations are full service only. It is good for the lazy cats but can be annoying for independent cats.
What about Sales tax? Shop on online does not mean no sales tax. States require you report your sales tax if it is not collected by the on line retailer. Most sates have about 5% to 7% sales tax. There are five states do not have sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon and Montana. No it is not a typo! Alaska and New Hampshire are the only two states tax neither income or sales. Alaska has further advantage over New Hampshire by not taxing dividend or savings interest. Of course, the disadvantage of Alaska is lack of sunlight in the winter, which is sort of made up by excessive sunlight in the summer. But that is off the topic.
