Is Maryland a High-Tax State?

In this Gazette story by Douglas Tallman, Maryland Delegate Kumar Barve and Maryland Tax Association President Herbert McMillan debate whether Maryland is a high-tax state:

A recent Tax Foundation study ranked Maryland fourth in the nation for its state-local tax burden. Ahead of Maryland were New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“Of the states ranked ahead of us, they’re in the Northeast,” said Barve, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. “Politically, people in the Northeast like good schools and good roads. And good schools and good roads are a good thing to have.”

A year ago, the study ranked Maryland fifth.

“What are you doing, going for the gold? We’re No. 4 right now. Do we want to be No. 1?” joked Herbert H. McMillan, a former delegate who is now president of the Maryland Tax Association. “The stones don’t have much blood right now. They’ve been squeezed pretty hard.”[…]

Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg said that in terms of the number of dollars, Marylanders pay a lot, but they also make a lot. As a percentage of income, he said, Maryland is in the middle of the 50 states.

McMillan countered: “People, not percentages of income, pay taxes, and people are hurting right now. They deserve what they earn for their families.”

Read the full article here.

More on Maryland here.