The experts at Anderson Economic Group have considered 11 taxes that businesses pay in order to produce the most comprehensive business tax burden ranking to date. To understand the burden taxes place on businesses in each state, we go beyond the amount of tax revenue governments collect and analyze how taxes paid by businesses compare to income available to pay the tax. Using the most recent fiscal year data available, 2013, we have used taxes paid as share of profits, as this measure directly compares taxes paid to business income available to pay the tax.
The report shows Oregon, Louisiana, and Utah in the top three with Alaska, North Dakota, and West Virginia at the bottom with the highest burdens. The states whose rankings improved the most from last year were Wyoming (47th to 41st) and Michigan (28th to 23rd).