The Tax Foundation has released a map displaying the ranking and dollar/citizen each state pulls in via excise taxes. Excise taxes are usually placed on goods that consumers can’t avoid, like gasoline, or goods that governments would prefer consumers avoid, like cigarettes or alcohol (also called Sin Taxes). Policy makers are attempting to generate maximum revenue, while also achieving some other goal, i.e. preventing cancer or reducing emissions. The Tax Foundation writes:
State and local governments rely on a variety of tax types to raise revenue, one of which is the excise tax. Like general sales taxes, excise taxes are paid on the purchase of an item. Unlike sales taxes, excise taxes are collected on specific types of transactions, not a wide range of general goods. Some of the most common excise taxes include gas taxes,cigarette taxes, and taxes on the purchase of beer, wine, and liquor. Others include taxes on the purchase of amusements, insurance premiums, and pari-mutuels.
This week’s map looks at combined state and local excise tax collections per capita in each state. On average, $535 per person was collected in each state in fiscal year 2013 (including local governments).
