'Business Tax Index 2008' Ranks State Tax Systems

WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With April 15, "Tax Day,"
almost upon us, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)
published the "Business Tax Index 2008: Best to Worst State Tax Systems for
Entrepreneurship and Small Business" today, ranking the states according to
the costs of their tax systems for small business start up and growth.

SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan said: "Entrepreneurs and small
businesses have to struggle every day with the costs of taxation, which affect
a wide array of decisions, including hiring, investment, expansion and
location. While the federal tax burden and the complexity of that system is
quite heavy, state and local taxes can add significantly to that load. The
'Business Tax Index' captures these costs, and provides businesses, investors
and political leaders with a measurement of how the states stack up against
each other in this regard."

(To read the full report, and to visit the "Business Tax Index 2008" state
interactive map, please visit www.sbecouncil.org. Look for the "Business Tax
Index 2008" image on the right hand side of the main page to access the full
report, summary, and nationwide map of individual state rankings.)

SBE Council's "Business Tax Index 2008" pulls together 16 different tax
measures, and combines those into one tax score that allows the 50 states and
District of Columbia to be compared. Among the taxes included are income,
property, death/inheritance, unemployment, and various consumption-based
taxes, including state gas and diesel levies.

According to the "Business Tax Index 2008," the 15 BEST state tax systems are:
1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) Washington, 5) Florida, 6) Alaska,
7) Texas, 8) Colorado, 9) Alabama, 10) Mississippi, 11) South Carolina, 12)
Tennessee, 13) Missouri, 14) Ohio, and 15) Virginia.

The 15 WORST state tax systems are: 37) North Carolina, 38) Nebraska, 39) West
Virginia, 40) Hawaii, 41) Idaho, 42) Vermont, 43) Massachusetts, 44) New York,
45) Rhode Island, 46) Maine, 47) Iowa, 48) California, 49) Minnesota, 50) New
Jersey, and 51) District of Columbia.

Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for SBE Council and author of the report,
wrote: "In the end, taxes matter. They matter at the federal, state and local
levels of government. They matter to consumers, entrepreneurs, investors and
businesses. They matter in terms of a state's competitiveness. And they
matter when it comes to economic growth and job creation."

The "Business Tax Index 2008: Best to Worst State Tax Systems for
Entrepreneurship and Small Business" can be read and downloaded from SBE
Council's website at www.sbecouncil.org.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact SBE Council
at 703-242-5840. The SBE Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business
advocacy group, works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship.

SOURCE Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Monica Stewart of Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, +1-703-242-5840