Sunny report on Florida's tax climate

Florida has something in common with Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming, a trio of states more accustomed to a cowboy way of life than sunshine.

It turns out all those states, plus Nevada, make up the top five states for business tax climate, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. The Washington, D.C.-based foundation is a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization.

Now in its ninth year, the foundation's survey collects data on more than 100 tax provisions for each state. The states are then compared against each other. “Even in our global economy, a state's strongest and most immediate competition often comes from other states,” Tax Foundation economist Scott Drenkard says in a release. “State lawmakers need to be aware of how their states' business climates match up to their immediate neighbors and to other states in their region.”

Florida was one a few states the survey noted for not having an individual income tax. Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada collect neither personal nor corporate income taxes.

The poor performers, meanwhile, are the usual suspects from the Northeast, and, no surprise, California. The bottom five states on the survey are Rhode Island, at 46, followed, in order, by Vermont, California, New Jersey and New York.