Tennessee income tax ban

[charlesmartel]

Anyone here from Tennessee? I completely missed out on this news event from November. I find it impressive that the voters voted 2 to 1 to permanently ban income taxes in TN.

All 4 Tenn. constitutional amendments pass

I also like that they don't have a state minimum wage. The idiots in the occupied CA legislature are trying to jack up the state minimum wage to $13 within 2 years. CA's economy is already in the toilet. There are about 3.1% fewer jobs in Los Angeles county today than there were 25 years ago. That's worse than Detroit, which has 2.8% fewer jobs than 25 years ago.

 

[jstover77]

Have an office in Nashville. Go there 3-4 times per year. Love it there. Been trying to get the wife to move there, simply because there is no state tax, and overall everything is less expensive there. Cost of living etc...

 

[jstover77]

Have an office in Nashville. Go there 3-4 times per year. Love it there. Been trying to get the wife to move there, simply because there is no state tax, and overall everything is less expensive there. Cost of living etc...

Also, if you are single, this is probably one of the best cities to live in. Girl to guy ratio is ridiculous when you go downtown.

 

[cheshire]

Where do they get tax revenue then? Are the property taxes high? Like here in Texas we don't have a state income tax but the property taxes are pretty high compared to other states so property owners take it up the ass but everyone else gets a break.

 

[JulianTrueFlynn]

Where do they get tax revenue then? Are the property taxes high? Like here in Texas we don't have a state income tax but the property taxes are pretty high compared to other states so property owners take it up the ass but everyone else gets a break.

What I was thinking.

In MA they just tax everything a lot just to be safe

 

[JakeStratham]

Where do they get tax revenue then?

Sales tax. Tennessee has the highest rate:

Source

 

[ZuzanaDesigns]

I'm living in Tennessee between Knoxville and Nashville and absolutely love it. Property is cheap and you can get a lot of land for your money. No state tax is awesome too. Growing up in California my entire life I never though I would live in the south but will never leave now. Perfect place to raise a family with so much to do outdoors.

jstover77 is right, Nashville is an awesome place if you're looking for pretty girls and killer live music. My husband and I go into Nashville at least once a month.

 

[music4mic]

Sales tax. Tennessee has the highest rate:

Source

This. I grew up there, but move to FL 7 yrs ago.

Sales tax is high, and they tax just everything you buy. There are no breaks on groceries, meds etc. Just noticed it's up 1.2% since we moved too.


When I left we had a governor that was pushing for state income tax (despite a campaign promise to reject any state income tax, big surprise) which is probably why they pushed for this amendment.

 

[jryan21]

Yes, it is in the sales tax, but there is not a fixed rate statewide across everything you buy. There is something like 7% base rate, then depending on what county you are in, add up to another 2.75%. Most food items are lower than other items. On a grocery receipt from yesterday, I see 2 lines:
tax 1: 9.75%
tax 2: 7.75%

Where tax 1 is for non-food items. Tobacco and alcohol is much higher, I haven't bought either in a while, but cigs are at least 10%. I remember back in the day, people would go to KY to buy tobacco and lottery tickets, but TN has lottery now. Just about anywhere in TN you are less than a 90 minute drive to KY.

One thing that has been successful though is the annual sales tax holiday for certain non-food items, but not belt buckles:
http://tn.gov/revenue/salestaxholiday/STH Alpha List.pdf

 

[Member8200]

The Tennessee Income Tax Prohibition, Amendment 3 was on the November 4, 2014 ballot in the state of Tennessee as a legislatively, where it was approved.
Amendment 3 prohibited the legislature from levying, authorizing or permitting any state or local tax upon payroll or earned personal income.
Amendment 3 was not designed to apply to any tax in effect on January 1, 2011. The only income tax in effect on that date was on certain stock dividend and interest income. Therefore, the amendment did not prohibit a personal income tax on certain stock dividend and interest income.
The amendment was sponsored in the Tennessee Legislature by State (R-31) and State Representative Glen Casada (R-63) as Senate Joint Resolution 1.
In Tennessee, amendment must earn a majority of those voting on the amendment and "a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for governor.”

 

[charlesmartel]

Yes, it is in the sales tax, but there is not a fixed rate statewide across everything you buy. There is something like 7% base rate, then depending on what county you are in, add up to another 2.75%. Most food items are lower than other items. On a grocery receipt from yesterday, I see 2 lines:
tax 1: 9.75%
tax 2: 7.75%

Where tax 1 is for non-food items. Tobacco and alcohol is much higher, I haven't bought either in a while, but cigs are at least 10%. I remember back in the day, people would go to KY to buy tobacco and lottery tickets, but TN has lottery now. Just about anywhere in TN you are less than a 90 minute drive to KY.

One thing that has been successful though is the annual sales tax holiday for certain non-food items, but not belt buckles:
http://tn.gov/revenue/salestaxholiday/STH Alpha List.pdf

Man, in CA you never get a holiday from taxes. The holiday covers laptops and ski masks. I'm sold!

 

[charlesmartel]

I'm living in Tennessee between Knoxville and Nashville and absolutely love it. Property is cheap and you can get a lot of land for your money. No state tax is awesome too. Growing up in California my entire life I never though I would live in the south but will never leave now. Perfect place to raise a family with so much to do outdoors.

jstover77 is right, Nashville is an awesome place if you're looking for pretty girls and killer live music. My husband and I go into Nashville at least once a month.

How does the weather compare? I'm from Taxifornia, too.

 

[ZuzanaDesigns]

How does the weather compare? I'm from Taxifornia, too.

The saying in Tennessee is if you don't like the weather wait a couple minutes. The weather here is great. Everything is sooo green. I'm from Sacramento and when I left everything was brown, dry and HOT. Never really gets that hot here and winters are pretty mild. We may get snow a couple times a year but nothing really crazy.

 

[Brandon]

I love visiting Tennessee. It has one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the US. The only things that makes me hesitate on moving there are the humidity, the bugs and the tornadoes.

 

[shindig]

We have no income tax in WA state as well.

We have the highest gas tax, but I live in the city and drive 5 miles/day, fill up less than once a week.

Property taxes aren't as bad as you'd think. Housing is expensive, our $330k house is $3500/year in taxes, BUT in Portland Oregon, a house for $188k is roughly $3500/year in taxes, and in Ohio I own a shack where the taxes are $750/year on a $40k house. So as a percentage of the cost of the house, Seattle isn't bad.

 

[charlesmartel]

We have no income tax in WA state as well.

We have the highest gas tax, but I live in the city and drive 5 miles/day, fill up less than once a week.

Property taxes aren't as bad as you'd think. Housing is expensive, our $330k house is $3500/year in taxes, BUT in Portland Oregon, a house for $188k is roughly $3500/year in taxes, and in Ohio I own a shack where the taxes are $750/year on a $40k house. So as a percentage of the cost of the house, Seattle isn't bad.

However, Seattle has a job-killing $15/hr minimum wage, which I find really nasty. Tennessee is one of the few states without a state minimum wage, which is a big plus to me.

 

[shindig]

However, Seattle has a job-killing $15/hr minimum wage, which I find really nasty. Tennessee is one of the few states without a state minimum wage, which is a big plus to me.

I make more than $50/hr so could give 2 shits...

edit:: Secondly, I never would have been able to make this career work remotely. I lived in OH for 5 years, went to college my Jr/Sr years of high school, took 3x C++ classes back in 1999, and the only programming jobs were in Columbus OH and very few.

When I moved here I worked construction, got laid off in 2008 when economy tanked, within 2 years was making $45/hr programming. Now I average more than $3k/week. I also bought a pound of WA's finest cannabis yesterday, legally. Life is what you make of it, and it's a lot easier if you go to where the opportunity is abundant.

 

[ZuzanaDesigns]

I love visiting Tennessee. It has one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the US. The only things that makes me hesitate on moving there are the humidity, the bugs and the tornadoes.

It does get pretty humid and the damn bugs are pretty bad certain times of the year. Tornadoes scare the shit out of me too because they are so unpredictable. I lived in North Carolina for several years as well on the beach so it was not quite as bad moving here having to deal with the humility and storms. Although on the island it was hurricanes and you knew when they were coming.

Another crazy thing I noticed when I came to Tennessee is everyone waves when you drive by them in the country. Someone could be mowing their lawn 100 yards away and when you drive by they wave. At first I had no idea why everyone did it and it freaked me out a little but now I find myself waving to everyone as I drive around. Just a lot of friendly people I guess.

 

[zimok]

Another crazy thing I noticed when I came to Tennessee is everyone waves when you drive by them in the country. Someone could be mowing their lawn 100 yards away and when you drive by they wave. At first I had no idea why everyone did it and it freaked me out a little but now I find myself waving to everyone as I drive around. Just a lot of friendly people I guess.

If you ever come to Canada you're going to think we're bat shit crazy on the nice stuff.

Waves get thrown around on rural ANYTHING, and if you're a dirt road in the middle of nowhere it's not uncommon to stop and chat for 5 minutes.

Our company has to constantly remind employees not to hold doors for people because they might not work there, no one listens to this in favor of potentially letting a psychopath in, rather than seeming rude.

Doors get held from 15 feet away, everywhere. If you smile at someone(cute or older of the opposite sex) you can expect a smile back 85+% of the time.

I have a 'bitch resting face' unless I'm drunk, and people are constantly apologizing to me, thinking I'm angry at them for god knows what reason. (I'm not, I just live in my head/thoughts)

From the documentaries I've seen about rural towns in the 'bible belt' of USA, it seems very much like what I'm describing - overtly friendly people, offering the shirts on their back to comfort a stranger in need. I'd rather move to Tennessee than NYC myself, would probably feel right at home.

 

[charlesmartel]

I make more than $50/hr so could give 2 shits...

edit:: Secondly, I never would have been able to make this career work remotely. I lived in OH for 5 years, went to college my Jr/Sr years of high school, took 3x C++ classes back in 1999, and the only programming jobs were in Columbus OH and very few.

When I moved here I worked construction, got laid off in 2008 when economy tanked, within 2 years was making $45/hr programming. Now I average more than $3k/week. I also bought a pound of WA's finest cannabis yesterday, legally. Life is what you make of it, and it's a lot easier if you go to where the opportunity is abundant.

I think you misread my sentence. Minimum wage makes it difficult for unskilled people to get jobs and destroys lots of job opportunities. It also makes it more expensive to start a business. It's bad enough that the federal government interferes with voluntarily agreed upon wages. I don't need local socialists budding in, too.