Only 15 states have higher state and local tax burdens than Utah, according to the cover story in Money magazine's January issue, which ranked Utah as 36th among the 50 states.
For the third consecutive year, Alaska residents had the lowest tax bill while New York, again for three years in a row, had the highest state and local taxes.Wyoming and Nevada had the second and third lowest overall tax costs. Colorado ranked 30th and Idaho 35th, one step above Utah.
Money based its state tax rankings on what it described as "a typical prosperous two-income family of four" that earned $75,634 in 1993, but Janice J. Perry, spokeswoman for the Utah Tax Commission, said that is not the income of a typical Utah family.
Perry said the typical Utah family of four has an income between $30,000 and $35,000 and pays approximately $3,040 in taxes. This includes $1,016 in state income taxes, $915 in sales taxes, $778 in property taxes and $331 in excise (cigarettes, gas, beer) taxes.
The prosperous Utah family of four, according to Money's figures, spent $8,272 on state taxes. A similar "prosperous" Alaskan family spent only $1,694 on its state tax bill while in New York the bill was $11,020.