Illinois Raises Income Tax 66%

MA to texas isn't 2%. It is more like 5%. And most of your COL savings isn't in taxes. It is in housing.I remember the 90s when people were still flooding to CA. The taxes were the same then. People go where jobs are (the 2000s favored texas's energy) and the weather is good (people have been going south and west for years).Some of that is tax related. Some is just incidental

checkyourfactsplz wrote:

People actually do move as a result of state income tax rates. California would be shrinking if not for the massive influx of immigration (much of it illegal).

The latest census indicated that states with low income tax rates enjoy less unemployment, better small business vitality, and much higher population growth.

I recently moved from MA to TX. I was able to maintain my salary level. Now I live with a much lower cost of living and have an extra $6,000 CASH that I don't spend on MA state income taxes.

This is not an insignificant amount... a 10% raise in MA wouldn't net me as much at the end of the year. That's a vacation and early payments on student loan debt for me. Compound that over a few years and it's no wonder why so much business is moving to cities like Austin, Houston, and Dallas.

Right, it's considered a 2% holiday from taxable wages as a whole, so 2% of the first $106,800 of wages taxable to social security, or whatever the limit is this year. The social security payroll tax is a flat 6.2%, so in that light it's a 30% cut in that tax for the year. That's an odd way to look it at but it would be consistent with the 66% rise in IL income tax. Total FICA taxes are 7.65% when medicare is included, so in that light it would be more like a 26% cut in FICA taxes. I know this board and threads like these in particular aren't mining for facts, but here they are so there you go. FICA reverts to 7.65% in 2012.

asdfasdfas wrote:

Shouldn't that be a 25% cut in payroll taxes?

Even simpler wrote:

Congress passed a 2% payroll tax holiday for 2011. It will revert back to 7.65% in 2012. It looks like the IL tax eats up that break, although income taxes can be affected by deductions and credits unlike the payroll tax (FICA).