201702 Resource 149173 155860 155860 1208122808936 1208122808936 Controlled Small Business News: Business Tax Index 2008 Ranks State Tax Systems

New rankings out for state tax systems for entrepreneurs and small business owners

All of us are well aware that this week millions of Americans will flock to the post office to mail off taxes. Whether it be with relief, bitterness or anticipation, we’ll nervously insert our sealed envelopes into the official postal slot, ready to forget the whole experience until next year. So in honor of April 15, "Tax Day," the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) published the Business Tax Index 2008: Best to Worst State Tax Systems for Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 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." 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." To read the full report, and to visit the "Business Tax Index 2008" state interactive map, you can visit <a href="http://www.sbecouncil.org">http://www.sbecouncil.org</a>. Look for the "Business Tax Index 2008" image on the right hand side of the main page to access the full report, summary, and nationwide map of individual state rankings. 10 application/xml false business news business tax entrepreneurs small business small business news small business owners Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; Media Center PC 5.0; .NET CLR 3.0.04506) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 mfmomper 98.220.94.255 false true false false true 189572 false false true false false false true 149173 blog blogsite/FreedomVoice/web