Tennessee Ranks 18th In Annual Tax Climate Ranking

Tennessee Finished 18th In a New Study By The Tax Foundation showing Which States Are Best At Structuring Their Tax Systems. 

Photo: Tennessee River Gorge

Photo Credit:  CC

Published March 8, 2021

The Center Square –

All 50 states tax private property and unemployment insurance, according to the foundation’s analysis, which is titled the “2021 State Business Tax Climate Index.” But several states do without certain major taxes, such as corporate income, individual income and sales.

Many of the highest-rated states lack one of these major taxes, although some states that levy all the major taxes had high scores. That’s because their tax structures feature low rates and are broadly levied, the foundation reports.

Tennessee also ranked 24th for its corporate tax, eighth for individual income taxes, 47th for sales taxes and 33rd in the property tax category.

The states at the bottom of the ranking tend to have complex, non-neutral systems for raising revenues, along with relatively high tax rates, according to the authors of the analysis. 

How Well Is Your State Tax System Structured?

State	Overall Rank	Corporate Taxes	Individual Taxes	Sales Taxes	Property Taxes	Unemployment Insurance Taxes
Wyoming	1	1	1	6	39	29
South Dakota	2	1	1	33	20	42
Alaska	3	26	1	5	22	45
Florida	4	6	1	21	13	2
Montana	5	21	25	3	28	20
New Hampshire	6	41	9	1	47	44
Nevada	7	25	5	44	5	47
Utah	8	14	10	23	7	17
Indiana	9	12	15	20	2	27
North Carolina	10	4	16	22	26	10
Texas	11	47	6	35	36	16
Missouri	12	3	23	24	8	7
Delaware	13	50	42	2	4	3
Michigan	14	20	12	10	35	18
Oregon	15	49	38	4	16	36
Washington	16	40	6	48	18	19
North Dakota	17	8	20	29	12	12
Tennessee	18	24	8	47	33	26
Kentucky	19	19	18	13	21	49
Idaho	20	29	26	9	3	48
Colorado	21	10	14	36	32	41
West Virginia	22	17	28	19	10	28
New Mexico	23	9	31	41	1	9
Arizona	24	22	17	40	11	8
Wisconsin	25	30	37	7	17	35
Virginia	26	16	35	11	27	46
Pennsylvania	27	43	19	17	15	40
Nebraska	28	32	21	15	41	11
Maine	29	37	22	8	40	33
Oklahoma	30	11	33	39	29	1
Georgia	31	7	36	27	24	39
Mississippi	32	13	27	32	37	5
South Carolina	33	5	34	31	34	24
Massachusetts	34	38	11	12	44	50
Kansas	35	31	24	37	30	13
Illinois	36	36	13	38	48	43
Rhode Island	37	39	29	25	42	30
Hawaii	38	18	47	30	9	25
Ohio	39	42	43	34	6	6
Iowa	40	46	40	14	38	37
Alabama	41	23	30	50	19	14
Louisiana	42	35	32	49	23	4
Vermont	43	44	39	16	49	15
Maryland	44	33	45	18	43	34
Arkansas	45	34	41	46	25	23
Minnesota	46	45	46	28	31	32
Connecticut	47	27	44	26	50	22
New York	48	15	48	43	45	38
California	49	28	49	45	14	21
New Jersey	50	48	50	42	46	31

Source: Tax Foundation