Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Texas’ Draw: Low Taxes, High Opportunity

As a Texan, I take great pride in my home state. This is truly God’s country, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. It seems people across the nation are catching on that things are bigger and better in Texas.

U.S. Census data reports that Texas is the top state for relocation. A recent Dallas Morning News article notes that Texas’ big draw is highly influenced by jobs and our state’s commitment to keeping taxes low.

That same Dallas Morning News article cited new data from the Tax Foundation that ranks Texas No. 3 among states for bringing in the most income as a result of people moving into the state. Only Florida and Arizona ranked higher than us. A great deal of that income is from people moving away from high tax-and-spend states like California, New York and Illinois.

The main reason Texas, Florida and Arizona topped this list is simple. Texas and Florida are two of only seven states in the U.S. without a state personal income tax, and Arizona has the fifth-lowest state income tax rate in the country. Take California and New York: they are on the complete other end of the spectrum. It’s just plain common sense. When you tax people too much, take note that they are likely to move out of that state.

Work is another reason people are flocking to Texas. According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas businesses have created 293,000 jobs in the last year, which is more than any other state. So not only do families want to make Texas their home, so do businesses.  

To read the full Dallas Morning News article, “Texas gains people – and their income,” click here.

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