Often ignored in the discussion of tax level is the equally important issue of distribution of the tax burden. The Utah study provides an important perspective on the issue, critical to the state's economic competitiveness. That's nearly a third greater share than is paid by business in Arizona, the second highest state in the group. Washington is the only one of the seven states without a personal income tax and exempts food and prescription drug purchases from the sales tax. . A clear picture of the distribution of tax burden can be seen from the pie chart.
Business pays nearly half of all state and local taxes in Washington.
Arizona, again the second ranking state, taxes business for about 38 percent of the state and local tax burden, while the other Western states collect less than a third of their taxes from business. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read them. If you do not already have it you can download Adobe Acrobat for free .