Florida One of Lowest Tax States: Makes Up for the Weather :)

Ranked 37th in the nation for per capita state tax, FL drops to 37th when local taxes are added, then to 33rd when combined with own source revenue. FL is still one of the lowest by any measure.

Palm Coast, FL – March 18, 2014 – Floridians rank 47th for per capita state taxes paid and 37th when state and local taxes are combined according to a report issued by Florida TaxWatch, an independent, non-partisan research institute.

Key findings of the report:

• Floridians’ per capita state and local own source revenue collections ranked 33rd in the nation in 2011. The Great Recession impacted Florida governments’ revenue collections much more than most states. These per capita collections have increased only 3.8 percent since 2006, when Florida ranked 22nd. This is the fourth smallest growth in the nation. 
• Florida’s state tax collections fell 17.6 percent from 2006 to 2012, by far the largest drop in the nation.
• State revenues comprise 6.2% of Floridians’ personal income, and local revenues take out 7.8%. This compares to the national average of 8.0% and 10.5%, respectively.
• Florida relies more heavily on locals to fund government than almost every state. Local governments fund 55.6 percent of Florida’s total state and local revenue, the second highest percentage in the nation.
• General and selective sales taxes account for 82.6% of all Florida’s state tax collections, compared to the national average of 47.1%.
• Florida has traditionally had one of the largest per capita sales taxes in the nation, ranking in the top five. The recession appears to have hurt Florida’s collections more than the average state. This, coupled with some states enacting higher tax rates, has caused Florida’s general sales tax ranking to fall to 11th in 2012.
• Florida has the highest excise (selective sales) taxes on utilities in the nation. It also taxes motor fuels and alcoholic beverage much higher than average, ranking 11th and 12th, respectively.
• Florida is one of seven states without a personal income tax. The average state relies on personal income taxes for 35.3 percent of its tax revenue.
• Businesses pay more than half (54%) of all state and local taxes in Florida. This is the 8th highest percentage in the nation and higher than the national average of 45%.

Read the Full Report (with lots of data tables)