This is how NJ’s high taxes hurt its economy, report says

A new study finds New Jersey is at the top of the heap, ranked number one, when it comes to having the worst business tax climate in the nation.

Janelle Cammenga, a policy analyst with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, says the report looks at every state in America and “no surprise to you or to most folks in New Jersey I’m sure, New Jersey once again ranks 50th due to its combination of high rates and complex tax structure.”

Not competitive

“The high taxes and their uncompetitive tax code really do matter to businesses, especially at a time when many businesses and individuals are going remote and becoming more mobile," she said.

She said the 2022 State Business Tax Climate Index enables business leaders, government policymakers and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare and this is important because taxes do make a difference to businesses.

“They might not always be the first thing a business looks at but if they’re debating between state where they want to relocate to, they’re going to be very cognoscente of what the tax structure looks like,” Cammenga said.

Falling behind

She said states cannot change the kind of natural resources they have but “a tax code is something that any state can change and they can change immediately, so that’s one of the ways states can become more competitive, a lot of states are making changes to become more competitive, but New Jersey is falling behind.”

She said to determine the ranking of different states “we look at the corporate income tax, on which New Jersey is 48th, we have individual income taxes where you’re 48th as well, sales taxes you’re 43rd so a little bit better there, NewJersey ranks 44th for property taxes and 32nd for unemployment insurance taxes.”

The report finds the state with the best, most competitive tax system in the country is Wyoming, followed by South Dakota and Alaska.

After New Jersey, the state with the second-worst business tax climate in the nation is New York, and California ranks as third worst.

You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com.