Maine increased its gasoline tax rate from 19 cents to 22 cents a gallon. Nebraska and Wisconsin's gasoline tax rates are indexed for inflation while North Carolina's gasoline tax rate is revised every six months. Two states changed their cigarette tax rates. 1999 state tax collections are based on data from the Bureau of the Census. Census data records the tax collections received from various taxes levied at the state level.
Tax burdens are best determined through a tax incidence analysis.
Tax incidence analysis determines which taxpayers ultimately bear the real burden of taxes. For example, income taxes paid by corporations to the state of California are not fully borne by the residents of California. The Census data used in this report makes no adjustment for this effect.