2012 State Business Tax Climate Index

The Tax Foundation presents the 2012 version of the State Business Tax ClimateIndex to enable business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare.

The 10 best states in this year’s Index are: 
1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. New Hampshire
7. Washington
8. Montana
9. Texas
10. Utah

It is obvious that the absence of a major tax is a dominant factor in vaulting many of these 10 states to the top of the rankings.  Property taxes and unemployment insurance taxes are levied in every state, but there are several states that do without one or more of the major taxes: the corporate tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax. Wyoming, Nevada and South Dakota have no corporate or individual income tax; Alaska has no individual income or state-level sales tax; Florida has no individual income tax; and New Hampshire and Montana have no sales tax. Read More…

Click on the map to see a larger image