Did you know that every state charges excise taxes on wine, spirits and beer? If not, here are three maps that show how widely those taxes can vary, both state to state, and on the three different classes of alcoholic beverages within a particular state. The reason for the variations among and within the states, on both an absolute basis and a relative basis are usually explained by the alcoholic beverages produced in a particular state.
While excise taxes hit you in the wallet in terms of the labeled price, as a consumer you pay sales taxes as well. Just how much sales tax are Americans paying on the booze they buy for ‘off-premise’ (ie – not a bar, restaurant, etc.) consumption? We have the answer, courtesy of The US Census Bureau. The bureau tracks the sales tax that each state collects every year. They also break it down by different categories, including alcohol. We decided to see which states were collecting the most sales taxes on alcohol, along with a per capita version.
The state with the largest tax haul? Texas! The smallest? Wyoming. It’s not just population; if you check the tax rate maps you’ll see Wyoming isn’t big on taxing booze. What about on a per capita basis? Alaska comes in first place. Wyoming comes in last place again…last place being the best place to be in our opinion.
Where does your state rank?
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