By John Stark
The Tax Foundation has issued its annual ranking of the 50 states according to their tax climate for business, and Washington state ranks high again because of this state’s lack of an income tax.
The Evergreen state’s sixth-place rank for 2013 is the same as last year’s. The state ranked 8th in 2011.
Here’s a link to the full report.
But the state’s sales tax is panned by the report’s authors.
“The ideal base for sales taxation is all goods and services at the point of sale to the end user,” the report says.
But Washington and some other states levy their sales taxes on business-to-business transactions, including purchases of new factory equipment.
“Companies have been known to avoid locating factories or facilities in certain states because the factory’s machinery would be subject to the state’s sales tax,” the report says.
“According to an annual survey of 650 business leaders conducted by Chief Executive—a magazine for CEOs of U.S. companies—Washington State ranks 37th out of U.S. states as a place to do business, a ranking that saw the Evergreen State drop three places since last year….
Chief Executive asked business leaders to grade each state on its tax and regulation policy, the quality of its workforce and its living environment.
On the specific grade for taxes and regulation—key legs of successful business posture—Washington ranked 34th…
http://www.nwdailymarker.com/2012/05/washington-state-falls-to-37th-in-ceo-ranking-for-best-places-to-do-business/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NwDailyMarker+%28NW+Daily+Marker%29
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Hola! I’ve been reading your blog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Huffman Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the good work!
As long as the state refuses to tax wealth, and instead continues to rely on taxiing gross business revenue, we’ll remain unranked.
I can’t help but wonder, how different would our standing would have been if Initiative 1098 had passed?
That was the income tax on individuals making $200,000 a year or more. It also adjusted a few other things.
Would we still have been 6th? Would we still have been in the top 10?
“…Will voters support increasing taxes to pay for public employee compensation improvements?
While these numbers will change based on caseloads and the remaining revenue forecasts for the year…., the most recent Office of Financial Management (OFM) 4-yr budget outlook projects a $1.043 billion budget shortfall for 2013-15 (despite projected revenue growth of $1.5 billion). The same outlook also projects $1.033 billion in compensation related issues for public employees. Here are the projected compensation details for 2013-15:
Restore K-12 Salary Reduction – $166 million
Restore 3% Salary Cut – $171 million
I-732 K-12 and Community Colleges Teachers/Staff Pay Increases – $292 million
Collectively Bargained Additional Pay Step – $38 million
Preliminary Pension Rate Changes (based Actuary’s estimate) – $366 million
Total compensation related changes: $1.033 billion
If these compensation related issues are reflected in the 2013-15 budget, the implication would be any proposed tax increases would be directly related…..
http://www.nwdailymarker.com/2012/09/will-voters-support-tax-hikes-to-pay-for-improvements-to-public-employee-compensation/
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
In Washington people in the “lowest income decile paid 4.5 times more in taxes as a percentage of income as those in the highest decile…Washington has a top-heavy income and wealth distribution” (A key finding from a recent study conducted by Washington State’s Office of Financial Management).
And this in a year which saw hunger in Washington State rise above the national average (“Hunger Increased Faster in Washington than in Most States,” September 7, 2012).
A lesson we can learn from our neighbors up north;
Canada government raised $31.7-billion from corporate taxes in the fiscal year that ended March 31, up from $30-billion in 2010-11.
How did they do this; by cutting rates, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
It is good to know that we have such a favorable business environment. Asking business leaders as in AFY’s poll is nonsense. They can hardly be familiar with the business climate in all 50 states. If business leaders in each state were asked about their state only, then the answers are more of an indication of how right-wing each state’s leaders are,
That said, the tax on gross receipts should be replaced by one based on profit. I moved to Washington 18 years ago to open a small business and tax climate was one of the things I looked at closely. If Vancouver WA had been as gorgeous as Bellingham and had a University, I would have moved there and shopped in Oregon
Asking business people about business does sound kinda stupid, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
But asking CEOs about taxes and economics isn’t always the best way to get good information; a better poll would be Controllers and Cost Accountants.
I agree with candidate Burr’s comments about the B&O tax; it’s outdated and bad business.
BEAN COUNTERS?!!
God help us, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
I have been absolutely against the gross receipts calculation for the B&O.
Our state gets much of its budget from plain old sales tax at the til.
Wherever possible, any other tax should be based on the net, not the gross.
This emphasis on “tax friendliness” (lack of a state income tax) is misleading. This state has one of the nastiest regulatory attitudes in the nation. I wouldn’t recommend that any friend relocate his or her business here. If anything, Atlas should shrug and leave the loons to their own pathetic devices.
AFY is Joe Wilson, Sales Manager,
Pederson Construction
3974 Bakerview Spur
Bellingham, WA 98226
Phone: 360-734-9180
Fax: 360-734-9649