JUNEAU, Alaska Oct. 28, 2014—The nonpartisan Tax Foundation today released its 2015 State Business Tax Climate Index, and the report ranked Alaska fourth best in the nation. Two components in the index, however, need improving, said the state director for Alaska’s largest small-business association.
The index measured a state’s corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales tax, unemployment insurance tax and property-tax rank to come up with an overall score. Alaska came out No. 4 in the nation. “Alaska has no individual income or state-level sales tax.”
“Yes, it helps our ranking that we have no sales or individual income taxes, but I think the Tax Foundation will find our state in even better shape in future reports,” said Denny DeWitt, Alaska state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “Data used in economic calculations can sometimes be unreflective of recent changes. For instance the Tax Foundation’s Index ranked us 24th in unemployment insurance taxes. But with Gov. Sean Parnell’s signing last year of House Bill 76 holding down unemployment insurance premiums, it will no doubt improve our standing in the years to come. And although our corporate tax rank (30th) and property tax rank (32nd) are areas in need of improvement, I believe other things not measured by the index and pushed by Governor Parnell are making Alaska a great place to do business.”
DeWitt cited those other things as the governor’s signing into law House Bill 32 reducing the number of multiple business licenses to one, his early backing and eventual signature of Senate Bill 21 reforming oil taxation that will increase production, his protection of the tourism industry, and his opposition to placing the state in future financial peril by expanding Medicaid.
“We’re trending nicely as a state open and welcoming for business, especially small business, and I give Governor Parnell the lion’s share of credit for making the decisions necessary to build a future prosperity that can better weather cyclical changes in the economy. This is why NFIB SAFE Trust has endorsed his re-election.”
With 350,000 dues-paying members across the nation, including more than 2,000 in Alaska, NFIB is the nation’s largest and leading small-business association. More information about small business, especially its difference from big business, can be found in this media kit with brief, single pages of bulleted information.
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
National Federation of Independent Business/Alaska
P.O. Box 34761
Juneau, AK 99801
907-723-6667
