Which states' taxpayers owe the most come tax day
Filing your taxes can be anxiety-inducing—especially if you're not sure whether you're going to owe the government money or receive a nice tax refund. Overpaying your tax obligation throughout the year by having extra money withheld from your paychecks is an interest-free loan to the government, but finding out you're getting one can give you a pleasant boost when you file your taxes. It's a popular option: 74% of taxpayers received a refund in the 2020 tax year.
If you have self-employment income, changed jobs, made profits by selling stock, or chose not to give the federal government additional money throughout the year, you may owe taxes instead of receiving a refund. Nationwide, 1 in 5 people who filed taxes owe money on their returns, according to Stacker's analysis of 2020 tax year data from the IRS, the most recent year available.
The average amount owed was more than $6,500—a few thousand dollars more than the average tax refund. To find out which states' taxpayers had the highest balances, Stacker used Internal Revenue Service data to rank states by the average amount taxpayers owed on tax day.
Only tax filers who owed money on their return were included; in other words, those who received refunds don't factor into the averages. The number and share of tax filers who owed money on their return are also shown in the analysis but didn't factor into the ranking. Scroll through the list to see where your home state landed in the rankings.
