Indiana ranks 10th in Tax Foundation’s annual State Business Tax Climate Index
The Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index enables business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, the Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
The 10 best states in this year’s Index are:
- Wyoming
- Alaska
- South Dakota
- Florida
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- Oregon
- Utah
- Nevada
- Indiana
The absence of a major tax is a common factor among many of the top 10 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. Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota 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, Montana, and Oregon have no sales tax.
This does not mean, however, that a state cannot rank in the top 10 while still levying all the major taxes. Indiana and Utah, for example, levy all of the major tax types, but do so with low rates on broad bases.
Indiana
Indiana saw consistent rate reductions through a series of responsible tax reform efforts between 2011 and 2016. Subsequent legislation established a further schedule of corporate income tax reductions through fiscal year 2022. For 2018, the corporate income tax rate declined from 6 to 5.75 percent. This rate reduction, among other changes, drove an improvement of six places on the corporate component of the Index. The Hoosier State and Utah continue to post the best rankings among states which impose all the major taxes.
Click here to launch the Tax Foundation's new State Business Tax Climate Index interactive web tool.
