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New Jersey & New York Ranked The 2 Worst States For Businesses, Tax Survey Finds

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New Jersey and New York are at the top of a list state officials probably don't want their residents to see – they've been ranked the worst tax climates for businesses in the nation.

The Washington think tank, The Tax Foundation, released their annual survey comparing each state's various taxes and how they affect the climate for local business owners going into 2020.

The Garden State was 50th. New York finished 49th.

The Tax Foundation's Jared Walczak said New Jersey "is hampered by some of the highest property tax burdens in the country, has the second highest-rate corporate income tax in the country, and a particularly aggressive treatment of international income, levies an inheritance tax, and maintains some of the nation's worst-structured individual income taxes."

Their annual State Business Tax Climate Index measured each state based on corporate, individual, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes.

New Jersey finished in the bottom 10 states for four of the five categories.

New York, which fell below California for the dubious spot as the second-worst state for business, finished in the bottom 10 for individual, sales, and property taxes.

There was one piece of good news for the highly taxed businesses of New York – corporate taxes actually improved by four spots, rising to the 13th best state in the U.S. in that category.

For New Jersey businesses, there was no good news. The state's tax climate has been ranked as the worst in the nation since 2015.

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