Nevada¹s business tax structure is second-best in the country for business, trailing only South Dakota, says a study by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. The council looked at 16 factors ranging from personal income taxes to taxes on diesel fuel.
Business Tax Index 2008' Ranks State Tax Systems
WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With April 15, "Tax Day," almost upon us, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) published the "Business Tax Index 2008: Best to Worst State Tax Systems for Entrepreneurship and Small Business" today, ranking the states according to the costs of their tax systems for small business start up and growth.
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan said: "Entrepreneurs and small businesses have to struggle every day with the costs of taxation, which affect a wide array of decisions, including hiring, investment, expansion and location. While the federal tax burden and the complexity of that system is quite heavy, state and local taxes can add significantly to that load. The 'Business Tax Index' captures these costs, and provides businesses, investors and political leaders with a measurement of how the states stack up against each other in this regard."
SBE Council's "Business Tax Index 2008" pulls together 16 different tax measures, and combines those into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia to be compared. Among the taxes included are income, property, death/inheritance, unemployment, and various consumption-based taxes, including state gas and diesel levies.
According to the "Business Tax Index 2008," the 15 BEST state tax systems are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) Washington, 5) Florida, 6) Alaska, 7) Texas, 8) Colorado, 9) Alabama, 10) Mississippi, 11) South Carolina, 12) Tennessee, 13) Missouri, 14) Ohio, and 15) Virginia.
The 15 WORST state tax systems are: 37) North Carolina, 38) Nebraska, 39) West Virginia, 40) Hawaii, 41) Idaho, 42) Vermont, 43) Massachusetts, 44) New York, 45) Rhode Island, 46) Maine, 47) Iowa, 48) California, 49) Minnesota, 50) New Jersey, and 51) District of Columbia.
Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for SBE Council and author of the report, wrote: "In the end, taxes matter. They matter at the federal, state and local levels of government. They matter to consumers, entrepreneurs, investors and businesses. They matter in terms of a state's competitiveness. And they matter when it comes to economic growth and job creation."
The "Business Tax Index 2008: Best to Worst State Tax Systems for Entrepreneurship and Small Business" can be read and downloaded from SBE Council's website at www.sbecouncil.org.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact SBE Council at 703-242-5840. The SBE Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group, works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship.
Source: Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council