Image: Knoxville, Tennessee Image Credit: Garrett Hill / GPA Photo Archive / Public Domain
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee is rated as having the 14th-best business tax climate in the country, according to The Tax Foundation.
Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska topped the rankings while New Jersey, New York, California and Connecticut were at the bottom of the rankings.
Tennessee’s ranking was improved significantly because it does not have personal income tax but the state ranked 45th in corporate taxes, 46th in sales taxes and 33rd in property taxes. Tennessee was 21 in unemployment insurance taxes.
Those rankings left Tennessee ahead of many of its neighboring states such as Alabama (41st), Arkansas (40th), Georgia (32nd), Mississippi (30th), Virginia (26th) and Kentucky (18th). Tennessee trailed Missouri (11th) and North Carolina (10th).
Tennessee’s state sales tax is 7% and is the largest portion of the taxes and fees the state collects each year. Last fiscal year, Tennessee collected $4.6 billion more than its initial budgeted estimates in taxes and fees.
Sales tax alone was $2.5 billion more than budgeted for the year.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
