A prototypical new corporate headquarters in Omaha might have an effective tax rate of 1.4 percent while the same one in Philadelphia would be taxed at 30.7 percent, according to a 200-page analysis by the Tax Foundation and KPMG.
In Kansas, a distribution center can be taxed at more than 65 percent, compared to 18.3 percent in Ohio.
The dramatic disparity among states has led to attempts to “poach” companies by governors such as Texas' Rick Perry, who this month used a series of television spots to encourage Maryland companies to relocate there.
“If you want to live free -- free from over-taxation, free from over-litigation, free from over-regulation, a place that's got a great skilled workforce, move to Texas,” Perry said.
But the 2012 study questions whether Perry is in a position to be boasting at all.
For older companies, Maryland ranks favorably at 8th in the nation, compared to 12th for Texas. For the relocating companies Perry hopes to lure, Texas may fare better than Maryland, but hardly has bragging rights.
Texas ranks 42nd for new companies compared to Maryland's 46th. In property taxes, Maryland ranks worst in the nation, but Texas is not much better, at 45th.
Indeed, although the largely conservative interior of the country placed very favorably in terms of tax rates, there were exceptions even there, such as the abysmal showing by Kansas. Plus, Republican-led states were not always markedly better than Democrat-controlled ones.
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