According to the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index, the climate for business taxes in Illinois is not headed in the right direction. In its ranking of all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Illinois was not called the worst state, but it was ranked lower than in past years.
Since 2011, Illinois has gone from 17th to 31st in overall business tax climate. Unsurprisingly, this decline seemingly coincided with the temporary tax hike for both individual and corporate income taxes. However, the Tax Foundation notes it did not take into account the phased rollback beginning January 2015. Unless the General Assembly extends or makes the tax increases permanent following the election, corporate tax rates will fall from 9.5 percent to 7.75 percent, and individual to 3.75 percent from 5 percent.
Along with personal and corporate income tax rates, the Tax Foundation ranked sales, unemployment insurance and property taxes to determine the overall ranking. Here's how Illinois ranked in each category.
Overall Rank 31
Corporate Tax Rank 47
Individual Income Tax Rank 11
Sales Tax Rank 34
Unemployment Insurance Tax Rank 38
Property Tax Rank 44
Illinois is surrounded by states who made the top of both the "best of" and "worst of" lists. Here are the top 10 best states for business tax climates in the U.S.:
1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. Montana
7. New Hampshire
8. Indiana
9. Utah
10. Texas
Check out the ten worst states for business tax climates in the United States, including a few of Illinois' neighbors, at Reboot Illinois.
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