NH Named a Most Tax-Friendly State

Kiplinger unveiled its rankings of the best and worst states for taxes. Kiplinger’s annual Tax Map — at Kiplinger.com/links/taxmap — shows income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, “sin” taxes (for products such as alcohol and tobacco) and other tax rules and exemptions nationwide.

“This year's tax filing season was more nerve racking than most -- it was the first time Americans had to deal with all the federal tax code changes made by the 2017 tax reform law,” said Rocky Mengle, Tax Editor at Kiplinger. “The shakeup also makes it harder to tell how a person’s state taxes line up with those of a similarly situated person in a neighboring state. Our annual Tax Map helps make that comparison and is particularly useful for someone planning to move to a different state.”

The 2019 Kiplinger Tax Map features tax profiles of each state, a list of the 10 most tax-friendly states and a list of the 10 least tax-friendly states , as well as additional roundups including states with the highest and lowest gas taxes , no income taxes , highest sales taxes  and more. To create the rankings, Kiplinger evaluated data and state policies from a wide range of sources on taxes on income, property, sales, fuel, tobacco, alcohol, wireless services, and inheritances and gifts.

The Tax Map is a sister project to Kiplinger’s annual Retiree Tax Map —which reveals senior tax breaks across all 50 states, and compares taxes on income (including Social Security benefits, pensions and other forms of retirement income), property, everyday purchases, and, ultimately, your estate.

Methodology The editors at Kiplinger created their own formula to compare the tax burden in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The "tax-friendliness" of a state depended on the sum of income, sales and property tax paid by a hypothetical married couple (these taxes are typically the most significant). To determine income tax, the editors prepared sample tax returns for the couple for each state. The couple's property tax bill was based on a home with a $400,000 assessed value and each state's average tax rate, while the couple's sales tax liability was calculated using data from the IRS.