You would be wrong. A 1996 study by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy "found that the kind of taxes that a state imposes on its citizens makes a huge difference.
*State and local income taxes are typically progressive. On average, poor families pay only a fourth the effective income tax rate that the richest families pay, and middle-income families pay about three-fifths the effective rate on the well-to-do.
* Property taxes, including both taxes on individuals and business taxes, are usually somewhat regressive.
*Sales and excise taxes are very regressive. On average, poor families pay more than six times as high a share of their income in these consumption taxes as do the best-off families, and middle-income families pay at four times the rate of the wealthy."
The full report can be found at http://www.ctj.org/html/whopays.htm.
Phil Gasper ptrg at sirius.com 415-522-1895