Don't Mess With Taxes

It was a lovely Saturday in Austin, so the hubby and I spent the day checking out areas of the city that we've heretofore never really explored.

The most fun was at Chinatown Center in North Austin.

As we wandered the aisles of the 100,000-square-feet MT Supermarket at the Center, we saw some brands that we recognized. Candy apparently knows no global boundaries.

But what we really enjoyed was marveling at the hundreds of products that are common throughout Asia, but not so much (yet) here in Central Texas. We picked up a few items for some international meals next week.

Growth thanks to welcoming tax climates: The specialty grocery and adjoining shops is just one area that's popped up since we moved here in 2005. It's evidence that Austin's economy, along with the rest of Texas, weathered the recession and is doing OK.

Part of that reason, say many of the Lone Star State's politicians, is because of our low business taxes. The researchers at the Tax Foundation agree.

Texas made the Washington, D.C., tax policy group's 2015 list of the 10 states with the best business tax climate. The other states ranking ahead of us, counting down to the leader, are Utah, Indiana, New Hampshire, Montana, Florida, Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota and, drum roll please, No. 1 Wyoming.

"The absence of a major tax is a common factor among many of the top ten states," say study authors Scott Drenkard and Joseph Henchman. "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 tax, the individual income tax, or the sales tax."

The Tax Foundation's map offers a view of the best and worst business tax climates across the country.

As I noted in my Bankrate post on the best and worst business tax climates, the top three states on the 2015 list have no corporate or individual income tax. Most of the others in the top 10 also make do without a major tax.

But Indiana and Utah do have all the major tax types and, according to the Tax Foundation, still are good places to do business, primarily because of how they structure those taxes.

Also last week at my other tax blog, I looked at the decisions voters will make Nov. 4 and the possible long-term effects of their tax choices.

I post my additional tax thoughts at Bankrate Taxes Blog on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you miss them there, you usually can find highlights and links here.

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