22 November 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
A YEAR IN THE LIFE: SALT ACCOUNTANT
It might not seem fair that some
of the highest ranked states don't
have major taxes to deal with, and a
more interesting comparison might
b e m a de b e t w e e n s t a t e s
with similar tax systems. A ll
of the states have property
ta xes a nd u nemploy ment
insurance ta xes, but from
there, the waters get mud-
died as some states are missing the
big taxes - sales tax and income tax.
In any case, here is the list of the best
10 states for business ta x climate
according to MTF:
1. WYOMING
2. SOUTH DAKOTA
3. NEVADA
4. ALASKA
5. FLORIDA
6. MONTANA
7. NEW HAMPSHIRE
8. INDIANA
9. UTAH
10. TEXAS
Accord i ng to M T F, t he lowest
ranked states suf fer from compli-
cated, non-neutral ta xes and high
r ate s . Here a re t he s t ate s at t he
botom of the list:
41. IOWA
42. CONNECTICUT
43. WISCONSIN
44. OHIO
45. RHODE ISLAND
46. VERMONT
47. MINNESOTA
48. CALIFORNIA
49. NEW YORK
50. NEW JERSEY
Te MTF reports one signifcant
success story with North Carolina,
a state that was ranked 44th a year
ago and is now in 16th place. In the
past year, North Carolina restruc-
tured its individual income tax from
a multi-bracket system to a single-
bracket system and lowered its cor-
porate income tax rate. Te state also
simplifed sales tax by taking away
the ability of localities to set their
own tax bases.
T here are other success stories
and also some states that got worse
i n s t e a d o f b e t t e r . M a i n e , f o r
e x a mple , r a i s e d s a le s t a x e s a nd
d rop p e d i n t he r a n k i n g s . S ome
states maintained status quo w ith
their tax systems, but dropped in the
r a n k i n g s d u e t o o t h e r s s t a t e s
improv ing and
climbing in the
rankings.
T h e f u l l
detailed report
including sum-
maries of what
is happening in
t h e v a r i o u s
s t a t e s c a n b e
seen at w w w.taxfounda-
t ion.org/a r t icle/2015 -
state-bu si ness-ta x-cl i-
mate-index.
The Best and Worst States for Taxes in 2015
By Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief, CPA Practice Advisor
T
he Multistate Tax Foundation
(MTF) recently issued its 2015
S tate Bu s i n e s s Ta x Cl i mate
Index report, a benchmarking
report that enables state govern-
ments and others to compare their tax sys-
tems with other states. Ideally, those states
that rank highly will ofer to help those at the
botom of the list, and states receiving low
rankings will take note and make some
changes.