February 3, 2009
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Columnist Cites Our State Business Tax Climate Index in Article on Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s New Fiscal Plan
"Corporate Tax: A Stinker That Pays"
By Patricia Lopez
A 2009 ranking of states by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation showed that Minnesota now has the second-highest flat rate in the country, exceeded only by Pennsylvania, at 9.99 percent. Neighboring Iowa has a graduated rate that ranges from 6 percent for its smallest corporations to 12 percent at the top.
Meanwhile, most industrialized nations, including most in Europe, have been lowering their corporate tax rates to lure companies. Much of the European Union now taxes corporations at 23 to 26 percent, far lower than the U.S. federal rate of 35 percent.
Pawlenty has said that having one of the highest federal corporate tax rates in the world and one of the highest state corporate tax rates has been a double whammy that Minnesota's crippled economy can no longer afford.
