‘Worst states:’ DeSantis weighs in on latest Florida tax ranking

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took to social media to weigh in after a nonprofit revealed its latest state-by-state ranking on tax competitiveness.

That nonprofit — the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation — released the study back in October, comparing tax policies between states across the nation.

“Tax competition is an unpleasant reality for state revenue and budget officials, but it is an effective restraint on state and local taxes,” the report reads. “When a state imposes higher taxes than a neighboring state, businesses will cross the border to some extent. Therefore, states with more competitive tax systems score well in the Index because they are best suited to generate economic growth.”

Overall, the study ranked Wyoming at No. 1, though the Sunshine State placed very well at No. 5. It scored particularly high in terms of its individual income taxes — primarily because it doesn’t have any.

On the flip side, Florida scored much worse in terms of its corporate taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes — the latter of which has become a major talking point in this year’s Legislative session.

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The study also noted that Florida’s recent repeal of its commercial lease tax is not scored on the Index, though it “represents an improvement” to the state’s tax competitiveness.

However, some states that DeSantis has been critical of — including New York and California — appeared toward the bottom of the list, sparking a response from the governor on Friday.

To put together the ranking, researchers looked at five major components of many states’ tax codes:

• Corporate taxes
• Individual income taxes
• Sales and excise taxes
• Property and wealth taxes
• Unemployment insurance taxes

However, states without one of these components scored perfectly for that section, meaning that a lack of taxes is a boon to states like Florida. Despite that, it didn’t mean that high-tax states couldn’t also place well.

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“The Wyoming model may not be possible in some states,” the study reads. “But the Idaho, Indiana, and North Carolina models are. These states all rank in the top 13 on the Index while imposing all of the major taxes, but at moderate rates with comparatively well-designed tax structures.”

As such, despite DeSantis’ claims, some “blue” states actually received relatively high placements on the ranking, including Delaware and Virginia.

Regardless, the full state-by-state ranking is as follows: