MAGA Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said this week that if he’s elected in November, he will make the state of Ohio a zero income tax state. (It’s currently 3.5 percent.)
As seen below on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s former Director of the National Economic Council of the United States, Ramaswamy said: “We’re going to make Ohio a zero income tax state which is a double-win to address affordability challenges: (1) Ohioans keep more of what they earn, and (2) we attract more high-paying jobs to the state.”
Kudlow responded with enthusiasm and said, three times, “Sounds like a winner.”
We’re going to make Ohio a zero income tax state which is a double-win to address affordability challenges: (1) Ohioans keep more of what they earn, and (2) we attract more high-paying jobs to the state. pic.twitter.com/mv5U1pMFMO
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 27, 2026
There are currently nine U.S. states with no state income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.
While they do not tax wage income, these states often offset lost revenue through higher sales taxes (7% in Tennessee) and property taxes (1.8%–2% in Texas, depending on the county). Washington has no income tax on wages, but is offsetting with a new tax on capital gains for high earners.
Note: Certain states with state income tax also have high sales tax (California) and property tax (New Jersey, Connecticut).
Ramaswamy has also claimed that he would oversee the “largest rollback of property taxes in the history of Ohio.”
More than one Ohioan responded to Ramaswamy with questions regarding how he intends to pull off his plan without increasing property taxes.
As one replied: “How are we going to eliminate income tax while simultaneously eliminating property tax? Is our sales tax going to jump? Do you even have a plan or is this just campaign talk?” Another complained: “And in the meantime local governments are raising housing assessments and increasing property taxes. As a senior, this is going to hurt me more than income tax.”
[Note: Retail sales taxes are a major revenue source for most states, “accounting for 32 percent of state tax collections,” according to the Tax Foundation, with local sales taxes also applied in many cases.]
Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton said of Ohio taxes: “The reason our property taxes are going up is this corrupt Statehouse is giving tax cuts to the most rich among us and leaving everyday Ohioans out — is that they have not been funding the programs needed at the local level.”
She added, “They have not been fully funding the local fund, which actually helps pay for schools and our police, our fire, and all of our essential services. So that puts this undue burden on other mechanisms of tax to go up.”
Acton asserted that there’s no need to raise taxes, but if she’s elected, she would change the priorities for tax dollars. She gave as an example of misguided priorities Republican Senate President Rob McColley arguing for the state to set aside $600 million in unclaimed funds for the Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park. (The $2.4 billion football stadium, being built on the site of an old Ford factory, is expected to open in 2029.)
Acton, a physician and former Director of the Ohio Department of Health, said she would prioritize issues including rural hospitals over GOP priorities like for-profit charter schools.