The commonwealth is often touted as the best state for doing business in the country. But according to the Tax Foundation, Virginia is middling, at best, when it comes to the taxes it levels on businesses and employees.
The group’s “2012 Business Tax Climate Index” has Virginia clocking in at #26 — well ahead of neighboring states Maryland and North Carolina, but trailing…wait for it…West Virginia. And Kentucky. And Tennessee, too. Virginia barely comes out ahead of economic basket cases like Illinois (#28) and trails Michigan (#18), which has undergone a brutal economic restructuring.
Heck, even perennial backwater Mississippi (#17) has a better tax climate than the Old Dominion.
Virginia has actually dropped three places in the ranking since 2011. How can this be?
It’s not because of the corporate income tax — Virginia ranks sixth in the nation on that scale. No, Virginia’s ranking are pulled down to average by its individual income tax rate (37th) and its taxes on unemployment insurance (36th) and property (27th).
One would think that the resident political class would look at such numbers and realize that there’s plenty of room for improvement in Virginia’s overall business climate.
Because allowing West Virginia to lord it over us is not only unacceptable, it’s downright embarrassing.
