Jim Pettit details for the Washington Examiner key highlights from IRS data on the states that have seen the most growth in “taxable revenue.”
Three broad categories among the 50 states illustrate geographic changes affecting the most fundamental component of the U.S. economy, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data on tax migration.
Derived from individual income tax returns from 2010 and 2011, the agency’s Statistics of Income Division shows where we live, where we moved and how much we make.
There are magnet states, which are those that siphon up to billions of dollars in taxable revenues from other states or grow their personal income tax base at significant percentages. …
… The most powerful magnet among the magnets is Florida, where the Sunshine State appears to exert the gravitational pull of the sun itself in attracting other taxpayers.
Florida gained nearly $5 billion in taxable incomes between 2010 and 2011. In percentage terms, that amounts to an increase of 1.43 percent when compared to the existing personal income tax base among people who resided there during the period the IRS analyzed.
Posting the next highest gain in dollar terms is Texas, which expanded its tax base by $2.4 billion.
South Carolina may be a small magnet, but it is a powerful one in proportion to its size. The state’s tax base grew $835 million.
While below Florida and Texas monetarily, the only two states with billion dollar-plus increases, South Carolina’s expansion is 1.08 percent, which is the second-highest percentage gain in the nation.
In dollar terms, the South Carolina tax base expansion is one-third that of Texas, but the Palmetto State’s tax base is only 17 percent compared to the Lone Star state.
Joining Florida and Texas as a top magnet state in dollar terms is North Carolina at $877 million. In percentage terms, the top states are Florida, South Carolina and Arizona, where the latter state had a 0.61 percent and $660 million taxable revenue increase.
