Tax Competitiveness and Interstate Migration
Recent data suggest that tax competitiveness plays a significant role in residents’ relocation decisions.
3 min read
Expert
Andrey Yushkov
Senior Policy Analyst
Andrey Yushkov is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Center for State Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation. He holds a PhD in public policy from Indiana University, an MS in economics from the University of Bonn, and a BS from St. Petersburg University.
Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Andrey worked as a consultant at Leontief Centre, participated in several World Bank and other international development projects dealing with the issues of public financial management and project evaluation in the public sector, and taught public budgeting and finance at Indiana University. His scholarly work on fiscal federalism was published in Public Finance Review and Eurasian Geography and Economics, among other outlets. In his free time, Andrey enjoys traveling, playing chess, biking, and listening to new classical recordings.
Latest Work
2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index
The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
115 min read
Georgia Amendment 1 Threatens the State’s Housing Market
Georgia should focus on policies that restrict the overall growth of property taxes, not policies that functionally freeze property taxes for current owners by shifting costs onto new owners and into the sales tax.
6 min read
State Tax Ballot Measures to Watch in 2024
Taxes are on the ballot this November—not just in the sense that candidates at all levels are offering their visions for tax policy, but also in the literal sense that voters in some states will get to decide important questions about how their states raise revenue.
9 min read
Taxes and Interstate Migration: 2024 Update
The latest IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
8 min read
Meals Taxes across the Nation
States would do better to broaden the sales tax base to include currently exempt classes of final consumption than to impose disproportionate taxes on prepared foods.
6 min read
Property Taxes by State and County, 2024
Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments and generate a significant share of state and local revenues.
6 min read
Local Income vs. Sales Taxes: Which Is the Better Source of Local Revenue?
To stay competitive in an increasingly mobile post-pandemic world, states and localities must learn from the tax policy successes and failures of their neighbors and communities across the nation.
27 min read
Georgia Implements Structurally Sound Tax Changes
Two bills in Georgia will lower the flat individual income tax rate and align the corporate income tax rate with the individual income tax rate.
4 min read
Maryland’s Worldwide Combined Reporting: To Be or Not to Be?
By violating the principles of simplicity, neutrality, and stability, and failing to raise significant revenue, worldwide combined reporting at the state level is doomed to fail.
6 min read
Taxes and Migration: New Evidence from Academic Research
Do taxes affect individuals’ decisions regarding where to live and work? Can high taxes cause the outmigration of wealthy individuals?
5 min read
Virginia Considers Expanding Its Sales Tax Base to B2B Digital Services
Expanding Virginia’s sales tax base to include B2B digital transactions could lead to tax pyramiding, hide the true cost of government, and make the sales tax system much less neutral and transparent.
5 min read
State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2024
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
8 min read
Maryland Considers Raising Local Income Taxes
Local income taxes in Maryland constitute about 35 percent of local tax collections and more than 17 percent of local revenue, giving Maryland’s localities the highest dependence on income taxes in the nation.
5 min read
Kentucky Sales Tax Modernization: Keeping the Sales Tax on Sales, Not Production
As policymakers continue efforts to improve Kentucky’s tax structure and competitiveness, they should keep in mind that not all offsets are created equal.
59 min read
D.C. Tax Revision Commission Recommends Major Tax Changes
While some recommendations follow the principles of sound tax policy and may improve the District’s tax climate, some proposals make the tax code more complex and less neutral, potentially disincentivizing investment and business activity.
6 min read
Governor Youngkin Unveils a New Tax Plan for Virginia
Virginia Governor Youngkin unveiled the contours of a tax reform plan incorporated into his forthcoming budget, which includes three major structural elements: a reduction in the individual income tax rate, a 0.9 percentage point increase in the sales tax rate, and the broadening of the sales tax base to include some “new economy” digital services.
6 min read
Are Local Income Taxes Compatible with State Tax Reform? Insights from Indiana
When it comes to comprehensive tax reform, poorly designed local tax policies can offset any improvements brought about by state tax policies.
6 min read
Taxes and Interstate Migration: 2023 Update
The latest IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
8 min read
2024 State Business Tax Climate Index
In recognition of the fact that there are better and worse ways to raise revenue, our Index focuses on how state tax revenue is raised, not how much. The rankings, therefore, reflect how well states structure their tax systems.
111 min read