(The Center Square) – Wyoming once again ranks as the top state for overall business tax climate.
In individual categories, Wyoming is the top state for corporate tax and individual tax categories, as well as seventh in sales taxes, 34th in property taxes and 23rd in unemployment insurance taxes, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation’s 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Wyoming is among states with no corporate or individual income tax. Researchers said the absence of a major tax is a “common factor” among many of the top-ranked states.
“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 income tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax,” the report’s authors wrote. “Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming have no corporate or individual income tax, though Nevada imposes gross receipts taxes, 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.”
South Dakota, Alaska, Florida and Montana round out the top-five states for overall tax climate. Other neighboring states ranked are Utah (8th), Idaho (16th), Colorado (27th) and Nebraska (30th). The five lowest-ranked or “worst states” in this latest Index are Massachusetts (46), Connecticut, California, New York, and New Jersey (50th).
“States in the bottom 10 tend to have a number of afflictions in common: complex, nonneutral taxes with comparatively high rates,” the co-authors wrote. “New Jersey, for example, is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, has the highest-rate corporate income taxes in the country, and has one of the highest-rate individual income taxes.”
Wyoming has been the overall No. 1 state for business tax climate in the foundation’s index since 2011-12.
