Report: Mississippi ranked mid-pack nationally for its business climate
A report released last week by the non-partisan Tax Foundation ranked Mississippi 24th among the states for its business tax climate.
The study, now in its 15th year, is more a measure of how the states structure their tax systems rather than how much they collect.
One measure the study didn't take into account was the beginning of the phaseout of the state's corporate franchise tax, which won't begin until next year. The corporate franchise tax — which is assessed at a rate of $2.50 per $1,000 of capital or property, whichever is greater — won't be completely phased out until 2028.
The other component of the largest tax cut in Mississippi — the elimination of the 3 percent individual and corporate income tax brackets assessed on the first $10,000 of income — will be phased out over the next five years starting next year.
By specific tax rankings, the Tax Foundation ranked Mississippi:
11th best for corporate taxes
20th best for individual taxes
38th for sales taxes
35th for property taxes
5th for unemployed insurance taxes
The Magnolia State was better than all but one of its neighbors, as Alabama was ranked 35th, Arkansas was 39th and Louisiana was ranked 41st. Tennessee, which doesn't have state income tax, was ranked 14th.
The top 10 best state's in this year's study are:
Wyoming
South Dakota
Alaska
Florida
Nevada
Montana
New Hampshire
Utah
Indiana
Oregon
The state with the worst business tax climate was New Jersey, with New York 49th and California 48th.