SECTION ONE: SUMMARY FINDINGS - ALL TAXES

All of the comments in this section refer to Vermont and the 11 comparison states. Because there are very significant differences in tax structure among these states, it is difficult to make broad generalizations, therefore, we will examine trends within income groups and identify exceptions. In all of the rankings that follow, one (1) is the highest tax and 12 is the lowest tax. When tax liability is identical, the same rank number is used. The rankings are as follows:

• Vermont ranks in either 8th or 9th place in tax liability for 12 out of 20 representative tax payers. Vermont ranks as high as 7th in only one case, and as low as 12th in only one case.

• North Carolina, which includes retail grocery food in the sales tax base, dominates the number one position for taxpayers in the $0 - $30,000 income groups.

• Massachusetts and Minnesota share the number one position for taxpayers in the $30,000 - $100,000 income groups.

• Minnesota has the highest tax liability for taxpayers with income greater than $100,000.

• New Hampshire has the lowest tax liability, ranking 12th, in 15 out of 20 case studies.

• Vermont is one of only three states (including Connecticut and Minnesota) in the study to follow the federal lead and tax a portion of Social Security payments to filers over age 65.

Total Taxes - Income Group: $0 - $15,000

Profile	HOH<65		Single<65		MFJ>65		Single>65		HOH<65
	Case #13		Case #1		Case #19		Case #16		Case #24
AGI ($)	10,360		7,740		10,360		7,740		0
	Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)
State
Connecticut	478	2	366	3	750	2	586	3	365	2
Florida	421	3	322	4	695	5	554	4	323	3
Maine	365	5	310	5	583	6	469	5	275	5
Massachusetts	333	6	253	8	536	10	416	8	253	7
Minnesota	(1,307)	12	(171)	12	714	3	391	9	(389)	12
New Hampshire	227	8	179	10	178	12	281	12	179	9
New York	114	10	234	9	549	8-9	321	11	226	8
North Carolina	480	1	520	1	704	4	676	1	371	1
Oregon	152	9	384	2	224	11	345	10	123	10
Vermont	(720)	11	(124)	11	549	8-9	448	7	(191)	11
Washington	401	4	300	6	807	1	607	2	300	4
Wisconsin	282	7	290	7	563	7	463	6	263	6

Total Taxes - Income Group: $15,000 - $ 30,000

Profile	HOH<65		MFJ<65		Single>65		Single<65
	Case #25		Case #7		Case #17		Case #2
AGI ($)	18,000		19,224		15,409		19,104
	Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)
State
Connecticut	586	3	595	7	787	10	794	9
Florida	516	5	521	9	710	11	516	11
Maine	453	6	586	8	861	7	1,062	6
Massachusetts	590	2	977	3	1,189	2	1,191	3
Minnesota	(1,499)	12	346	11	1,033	3	893	7
New Hampshire	281	7	289	12	337	12	281	12
New York	273	8	657	5	900	6	1,105	5
North Carolina	572	4	1,024	1	1,267	1	1,416	1
Oregon	179	9	982	2	954	5	1,294	2
Vermont	(103)	11	387	10	847	8	863	8
Washington	607	1	611	6	803	9	607	10
Wisconsin	35	10	859	4	1,024	4	1,190	4

Total Taxes - Income Group: $30,000 - $50,000

Profile	MFJ<65		MFJ>65		MFS<65		Single<65
	Case #8		Case #21		Case #11		Case #3
AGI ($)	36,190		36,172		36,156		36,190
	Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)
State
Connecticut	1,293	7	1,406	9	2,317	6	2,348	8
Florida	991	10	1,004	11	1,080	11	781	11
Maine	1,234	8	1,670	7	2,245	8	2,703	5
Massachusetts	2,048	1	2,278	4	2,479	4	2,472	7
Minnesota	1,432	5	2,478	2	2,591	1	2,933	1
New Hampshire	611	11	473	12	703	12	401	12
New York	1,783	3	2,031	5	2,500	2	2,707	4
North Carolina	1,316	6	2,319	3	2,440	5	2,860	2
Oregon	1,584	4	1,994	6	2,263	7	2,805	3
Vermont	364	12	1,643	8	1,651	9	1,884	9
Washington	1,173	9	1,255	10	1,286	10	988	10
Wisconsin	1,802	2	2,562	1	2,494	3	2,676	6

Total Taxes - Income Group: $50,000 - $100,000

Profile	MFJ<65		Single<65		MFJ>65
	Case #9		Case #4		Case #22
AGI ($)	53,445		53,445		84,627
	Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)
State
Connecticut	2,584	6	3,498	8	5,195	8
Florida	1,148	11	1,698	11	2,479	11
Maine	2,391	8	3,834	4	5,512	5
Massachusetts	3,422	1	4,046	1	5,334	7
Minnesota	3,264	3	3,910	3	7,016	1
New Hampshire	721	12	1,254	12	1,489	12
New York	3,133	4	3,927	2	5,775	3
North Carolina	2,525	7	3,770	6	5,595	4
Oregon	2,795	5	3,662	7	5,348	6
Vermont	1,798	9	2,750	9	4,833	9
Washington	1,556	10	2,114	10	2,925	10
Wisconsin	3,338	2	3,801	5	6,111	2

Total Taxes - Income Group: $100,000 +

Profile	MFJ>65		Single<65		MFJ<65		MFJ<65
	Case #23		Case #5		Case #26		Case #27
AGI ($)	108,284		108,284		191,953		421,506
	Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)		Tax ($)
State
Connecticut	6,641	4	6,587	8	11,434	9	23,057	9
Florida	5,262	9	4,458	11	5,570	10	16,813	10
Maine	5,986	7	7,767	3	15,696	3	34,641	2
Massachusetts	7,281	3	8,073	2	14,948	5	31,596	6
Minnesota	7,654	1	8,306	1	16,506	1	36,474	1
New Hampshire	3,225	12	3,564	12	2,481	12	9,181	12
New York	6,257	5	7,628	5	15,752	2	33,730	4
North Carolina	6,020	6	7,256	6	14,750	6	32,486	5
Oregon	5,850	8	7,226	7	15,217	4	34,237	3
Vermont	4,959	10	5,689	9	12,769	8	29,709	8
Washington	4,661	11	4,895	10	4,946	11	12,991	11
Wisconsin	7,576	2	7,669	4	14,491	7	30,527	7