California finished 49th in a new study by the Tax Foundation showing which states are best at structuring their tax systems.
All 50 states tax private property and unemployment insurance, according to the foundation’s analysis, which is titled the “2021 State Business Tax Climate Index.” But several states do without certain major taxes, such as corporate income, individual income and sales.
Many of the highest-rated states lack one of these major taxes, although some states that levy all the major taxes had high scores. That’s because their tax structures feature low rates and are broadly levied, the foundation reports.
California also ranked 28th for its corporate tax, 49th for individual income taxes, 45th for sales taxes and 14th in the property tax category.
The states at the bottom of the ranking tend to have complex, non-neutral systems for raising revenues, along with relatively high tax rates, according to the authors of the analysis.
How Well Is Your State Tax System Structured?
| State | Overall Rank | Corporate Taxes | Individual Taxes | Sales Taxes | Property Taxes | Unemployment Insurance Taxes |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 39 | 29 |
| South Dakota | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 20 | 42 |
| Alaska | 3 | 26 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 45 |
| Florida | 4 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 13 | 2 |
| Montana | 5 | 21 | 25 | 3 | 28 | 20 |
| New Hampshire | 6 | 41 | 9 | 1 | 47 | 44 |
| Nevada | 7 | 25 | 5 | 44 | 5 | 47 |
| Utah | 8 | 14 | 10 | 23 | 7 | 17 |
| Indiana | 9 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 2 | 27 |
| North Carolina | 10 | 4 | 16 | 22 | 26 | 10 |
| Texas | 11 | 47 | 6 | 35 | 36 | 16 |
| Missouri | 12 | 3 | 23 | 24 | 8 | 7 |
| Delaware | 13 | 50 | 42 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Michigan | 14 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 18 |
| Oregon | 15 | 49 | 38 | 4 | 16 | 36 |
| Washington | 16 | 40 | 6 | 48 | 18 | 19 |
| North Dakota | 17 | 8 | 20 | 29 | 12 | 12 |
| Tennessee | 18 | 24 | 8 | 47 | 33 | 26 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 21 | 49 |
| Idaho | 20 | 29 | 26 | 9 | 3 | 48 |
| Colorado | 21 | 10 | 14 | 36 | 32 | 41 |
| West Virginia | 22 | 17 | 28 | 19 | 10 | 28 |
| New Mexico | 23 | 9 | 31 | 41 | 1 | 9 |
| Arizona | 24 | 22 | 17 | 40 | 11 | 8 |
| Wisconsin | 25 | 30 | 37 | 7 | 17 | 35 |
| Virginia | 26 | 16 | 35 | 11 | 27 | 46 |
| Pennsylvania | 27 | 43 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 40 |
| Nebraska | 28 | 32 | 21 | 15 | 41 | 11 |
| Maine | 29 | 37 | 22 | 8 | 40 | 33 |
| Oklahoma | 30 | 11 | 33 | 39 | 29 | 1 |
| Georgia | 31 | 7 | 36 | 27 | 24 | 39 |
| Mississippi | 32 | 13 | 27 | 32 | 37 | 5 |
| South Carolina | 33 | 5 | 34 | 31 | 34 | 24 |
| Massachusetts | 34 | 38 | 11 | 12 | 44 | 50 |
| Kansas | 35 | 31 | 24 | 37 | 30 | 13 |
| Illinois | 36 | 36 | 13 | 38 | 48 | 43 |
| Rhode Island | 37 | 39 | 29 | 25 | 42 | 30 |
| Hawaii | 38 | 18 | 47 | 30 | 9 | 25 |
| Ohio | 39 | 42 | 43 | 34 | 6 | 6 |
| Iowa | 40 | 46 | 40 | 14 | 38 | 37 |
| Alabama | 41 | 23 | 30 | 50 | 19 | 14 |
| Louisiana | 42 | 35 | 32 | 49 | 23 | 4 |
| Vermont | 43 | 44 | 39 | 16 | 49 | 15 |
| Maryland | 44 | 33 | 45 | 18 | 43 | 34 |
| Arkansas | 45 | 34 | 41 | 46 | 25 | 23 |
| Minnesota | 46 | 45 | 46 | 28 | 31 | 32 |
| Connecticut | 47 | 27 | 44 | 26 | 50 | 22 |
| New York | 48 | 15 | 48 | 43 | 45 | 38 |
| California | 49 | 28 | 49 | 45 | 14 | 21 |
| New Jersey | 50 | 48 | 50 | 42 | 46 | 31 |
* 1 is best; 50 is worst
Source: Tax Foundation
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