Tuesday, March 17, 2020

U.S. States With No Income Tax

U.S. States With No Income Tax While individuals and businesses in all 50 states pay federal income tax, residents in 41 states also pay state income tax. Seven states have no state income tax  at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. In addition, the states of New Hampshire and Tennessee tax only the interest and dividend income of their residents gained from financial investments.   Of particular interests to retired persons or those nearing retirement, while federal taxes still apply, there is no additional state income tax on Social Security benefits, withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s, and payouts from pensions in these nine states. State income tax is typically based on the taxable income or adjusted gross income reported on the taxpayers annual federal income tax return. Key Takeaways The states of Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming do not tax the incomes of their residents.The states of New Hampshire and Tennessee tax only income from interest, dividends, and financial investments.Due to the needs of these nine states to provide services and maintain infrastructure, other non-income taxes, such as sales taxes, property taxes, and fuel taxes can be higher than in states with income tax. Not Always Cheaper to Live There The fact that a state does not have an income tax does not necessarily mean that its residents pay less in taxes than residents of states with an income tax. All states must generate revenue and they do so through various taxes including income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, license taxes, fuel taxes, and estate and inheritance taxes, just to name a few. In states without state income tax, higher sales, property and other assorted taxes can exceed the annual cost of a state income tax. For example, all states except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon currently charge sales tax. Food, clothing,  and prescription drugs are exempt from sales tax in most states. In addition to states; cities, counties, school districts, and other jurisdictions impose real estate and sales taxes. For cities that do not sell their own utilities, like electricity and water, these taxes represent their main source of revenue. Still, it is worth noting that during 2006 and 2007, the seven states with no income tax whatsoever, Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, led the nation in net population growth. However, the nonpartisan  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has reported  that a states income taxes have little influence over whether people ultimately decide to live there. How Do These States Get By Without Income Tax? Without revenue from income tax, how do these states pay for the basic functions of government? Simple: their citizens eat, wear clothes, smoke, drink alcohol, and pump gasoline into their cars. All of these and more goods are taxed by most states. Even states with income tax tend to tax goods and services in order to reduce their income tax rates. In states without an income tax, sales taxes and other fees, such as vehicle registration fees, tend to be higher than in states with income tax. For example, Tennessee, where only investment income is taxed, has the highest sales tax in America. When combined with local sales taxes, Tennessee’s 7% state sales tax results in a combined effective sales tax rate of 9.45%, according to the independent and bipartisan Tax Foundation. That’s more than twice the combined sales tax rate in tourist-laden Hawaii. In Washington, gasoline prices are usually among the highest in the nation, largely due to its gasoline tax. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Washington’s gas tax, at 37.5 cents per gallon, is the fifth-highest in the country. Non-income states of Texas and Nevada also have higher-than-average sales taxes, and according to the Tax Foundation, Texas also has higher-than-average effective property tax rates.   And So, Higher Costs of Living for Some Those extra taxes help to result in higher-than-average costs of living in some of the non-income tax states. Data from the independent Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, Florida, South Dakota, Washington, and New Hampshire all have higher than the median costs of living than in most states with an income tax. So the bottom line is that there is just not enough concrete evidence to say whether or not it is really cheaper to live in a state with no income tax.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

A Guide to Using the TClientDataSet in Delphi Applications

A Guide to Using the TClientDataSet in Delphi Applications Looking for a single-file, single-user database for your next Delphi application? Need to store some application specific data but dont want to use  the Registry / INI / or something else? Delphi offers a native solution: The TClientDataSet component located on the Data Access tab of the component palette represents an in-memory database-independent dataset. Whether you use client datasets for file-based data, caching updates, data from an external provider (such as working with an XML document or in a multi-tiered application), or a combination of these approaches in a briefcase model application, take advantage of the  broad range of features that client datasets support. Delphi Datasets A ClientDataSet in Every Database ApplicationLearn the basic behavior of the ClientDataSet, and encounter an argument for the extensive use of ClientDataSets in most database applications. Defining a ClientDataSets Structure Using FieldDefsWhen creating a ClientDataSets memory store on-the-fly, you must explicitly define the structure of your table. This article shows you how to do it at both runtime and design-time using FieldDefs. Defining a ClientDataSets Structure Using TFieldsThis article demonstrates how to define a ClientDataSets structure at both design-time and runtime using TFields. Methods to create virtual and nested dataset fields are also demonstrated. Understanding ClientDataSet IndexesA ClientDataSet does not obtain its indexes from the data it loads. Indexes, if you want them, must be explicitly defined. This article shows you how to do this at design-time or runtime. Navigating and Editing a ClientDataSetYou navigate and edit a ClientDataSet in a manner similar to how you navigate and edit almost any  other dataset. This article provides an introductory look at basic ClientDataSet navigation and editing. Searching a ClientDataSetClientDataSets provide several different mechanisms for searching for data in its columns. These techniques are covered in this continuation of the discussion of basic ClientDataSet manipulation. Filtering ClientDataSetsWhen applied to a dataset, a filter limits the records that are accessible. This article explores the ins-and-outs of filtering ClientDataSets. ClientDataSet Aggregates and GroupStateThis article describes how to use aggregates to calculate simple statistics, as well as how to use group state to improve your user interfaces. Nesting DataSets in ClientDataSetsA nested dataset is a dataset within a dataset. By nesting one dataset inside another, you can reduce your overall storage needs, increase the efficiency of network communications and simplify data operations. Cloning ClientDatSet CursorsWhen you clone a ClientDataSets cursor, you create not only an additional pointer to a shared memory store but also an independent view of the data. This article shows you how to use this important capability Deploying Applications that use ClientDataSetsIf you use one or more ClientDataSets you may need to deploy one or more libraries, in addition to your applications executable. This article describes when and how to deploy them. Creative Solutions Using ClientDataSetsClientDataSets can be used for much more than displaying rows and columns from a database. See how they solve application problems including selecting options to process, displaying progress messages and creating audit trails for data changes.