New Jersey made the bottom of the list in a ranking of business-friendly state tax systems, while Wyoming ranked as the most friendly.
The Tax Foundation's 2009 State Business Tax Climate Index measures how well a state's tax system encourages investment by maintaining a broad tax base and low rates. The annual ranking takes into account corporate, individual income, sales, unemployment and property taxes. The states are scored on these taxes, and the scores are weighted based on the relative importance or impact of the tax to a business.
"States with the best tax systems will be the most competitive in attracting new businesses and most effective at generating economic and employment growth," said Tax Foundation staff economist Joshua Barro, who wrote the study.
The top 10 states, from 1st to 10th, are Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, Montana, Texas, New Hampshire, Oregon and Delaware. The bottom 10 states, from 41st to 50th, are Minnesota, Nebraska, Vermont, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, Ohio, California, New York and New Jersey.
The complete list of rankings is available at
