They don't tax your income but they get you on your purchases, so poor people are screwed there.

Texas doesn't have a state income tax.

I heard my aunt from Ohio complaining about the state income tax and I thought, "What?"

So we get skewered on high sales taxes, high license and car tag fees, high filing fees for lawsuits, high fees if you happen to be in a state-licensed profession, and all that stuff. I am not surprised to see Texas on the list.

People get all giddy, thinking "oh goody, no state income tax!" But their giddiness comes at the expense of the poorest of the poor:

From the link, bold mine:

While the lack of an income tax lowers tax burdens on all residents, it does not do so equally. As a share of income, Tennessee’s poorest 20% of households paid 366% what the state’s wealthiest 1% paid in state and local taxes, the seventh largest such discrepancy nationwide. The income group earning close to average incomes was also disproportionately taxed. The middle 60% of earners in the state paid 280% what the wealthiest 1% paid as a share of income, also the seventh highest such percentage in the country.

Yeah, that no income tax is great, espeicially when wealthy Tennesseans know some struggling single mom or destitute elderly person is making up for it every time they buy food.

the sales tax on food. I am the primary food shopper in my family (my wife handles items other than groceries). In Iowa I usually pay no taxes on my purchases in the grocery store. In Tennessee I think it was 8% at the time.