Wyoming, Florida and Indiana rank among the 10 best states for taxes on business, while companies in states like New York, New Jersey and California must struggle with the worst tax codes in the country, according to the newest edition of the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index.
Several states have moved in the rankings since last year, with Texas dropping out of the Top 10 for the first time, landing at No. 11, and Virginia and Kentucky both falling three places to No. 26 and No. 27, respectively. On the positive side, Arizona climbed five ranks to No. 22 and Kansas shot up six spots to No. 20. Smaller changes were noted in several other states.
The State Business Tax Climate Index, now in its 10th edition, collects data on over a hundred tax provisions for each state and synthesizes them into a single, easy-to-use score. The states are then compared against each other, so that each state’s ranking is relative to actual policies in place in other states around the country. A state’s ranking can rise or fall significantly based not just on its own actions, but on the changes or reforms made by other states.
The Top 10 states in 2014 are Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, Washington, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah and Indiana. The 10 lowest ranked states are Maryland, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, California, New Jersey and New York.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan research organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937. For more information, visit www.taxfoundation.org.
