Report: DC Residents Pay Lowest Taxes In The Region

• February 22nd 2011

by Mark Wellborn

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Greater Greater Washington recently analyzed a report from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute that found that DC residents (and Virginians without cars) pay some of the lowest taxes in the region.

The report totaled the income, property and car taxes for three separate (and hypothetical) groups — renters earning $50,000 a year, homeowners with $100,000 in annual income and homeowners earning $200,000 a year. (The study analyzed singles and married couples with no children and with two children.) The study did not, however, include sales or income tax in its methodology.

From GGW:

In almost all scenarios, DC’s tax burden is the lowest. The major exception is single households without or with children, where taxes are lower in Virginia. For married couples, Virginia’s taxes rise above DC’s mostly due to the car tax. A separate DC CFO analysis also studied homeowners earning $50,000, and also found lower taxes in DC than in Maryland and Virginia.

DC also fared well when property taxes alone were considered. The study (which has sparked some criticism in the comments section of the Greater Greater Washington post) compared property taxes for $500,000 and $700,000 residences in DC and the close in Maryland and Virginia counties for households earning $100,000 and $200,000 a year. As the table below indicates, DC residents come out paying the least in property taxes (although that is fairly common knowledge in the area).

To read the full study (and decide for yourself how accurate its methodology is), click here.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/report_dc_taxes_arent_that_bad/3040.