September 4, 2009
Tax Foundation Director of Policy & Communications Bill Ahern Pens Letter to the Editor on Maryland’s State and Local Tax Burden
"Md. taxes not 'middle of the pack' "
By Bill Ahern
The Tax Foundation's estimate of Marylanders' tax burden answers the question: how easily can Marylanders pay their state and local taxes? To get that answer, we can't just count up the dollars that Marylanders pay; we have to measure "burden" by comparing taxes paid to income earned.
When we do that calculation (dividing all taxes paid by Marylanders by all income earned), we find that Marylanders paid 10.8% of their total income in state and local taxes in 2008. In only three states did residents pay a higher percentage (New Jersey, New York and Connecticut). So Mr. Kinstlinger of Baltimore (Readers respond, Sept. 5) is mistaken that Maryland's taxes are "in the middle of the pack." Our estimates of Marylanders' tax burden from 1977 to 2008 are available here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/459.html.
