The Big Apple bite.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Data - New York - Table - Brief article

New York City Mayor Michael Bloom berg brags about discouraging smoking by slapping a $1.50 city tax on each pack of cigarettes, in addition to an already hefty $1.50 state tax. But even New Yorkers who don't smoke are wheezing under a heavy tax burden, often for engaging in activities--employing people, earning a living, buying goods and services--that Bloomberg presumably does not want to eliminate. According to a February analysis by the city's Independent Budget Office, New York is the most heavily taxed of the nine U.S. cities with populations exceeding 1 million.

New York's state and local tax burden, including income, property, sales, utility, and various other taxes, was $9.02 per $100 of "taxable...