The tax debate cometh

With the Legislature set to begin on Tuesday, no doubt there’ll be a few bills to raise sales taxes. The transportation folks want a gas tax increase and a metro-area sales tax. The hunting/fishing/classic music coalition wants a 3/8 of 1 percent sales tax increase to go before voters in November.

Where does Minnesota’s sales tax rank with other states? It has ranked 5th for most of this decade, even though it hasn’t raised its sales tax (except for the baseball stadium and some local options).

For the gas tax, Minnesota currently ranks 38th. It ranks 25th in “spirits tax.” It ranks 34th in beer tax. These numbers are all courtesy of The Tax Foundation using 2006 numbers.

The state and local tax burden for Minnesota places it 11th nationally. Only 3 times since 1970 has the state ranked that low – 2004, 2005 and 1970. It also ranks 11th in terms of total tax burden — including federal, state and local taxes.