The Hall tax was established by action of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1929, by Chapter 86, Public Acts of 1929, enacted on April 10, 1929. It is named for Frank S. Hall, the state senator who sponsored the legislation.
It's a great question to ask -- especially while you pore over tax forms this year. Seven U.S. states currently don't have an income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. And residents of New Hampshire and Tennessee are also spared from handing over an extra chunk of their paycheck on April 15, though they do pay tax on dividends and income from investments.
Fourty-four of the fifty states collect a state income tax, all of which are lower than the Federal Income Tax. The highest marginal tax bracket in any state is just over 10%, comparable to the lowest tax bracket in the Federal Income Tax. While most states use a bracketed system similar to the Federal Income Tax, some use a flat income tax which collects a single, low percentage of all income from the first dollar to the last.