PA may be bootstrapper haven

Filed in archive Bootstrapper News on August 2, 2006

Come one. Come all. Despite this article by yours truly, Pennsylvania may just be a haven for bootstrap entrepreneurs.

Ignoring the state's 9.99 percent net corporate income tax, which in December 2005 was the highest in the country according to information posted by the Tax Foundation, a national non-profit policy group, its overall business tax climate and personal income tax are rated quite well.

The keystone state ranks 16th and 12th in the nation respectively according to data on the group's website.

The few states that outrank Pennsylvania in personal income tax sometimes have other strikes against them, like Michigan, which despite being ranked 11th for its personal income tax finished 26th for overall business tax climate.

The business climate ranking includes a variety of other factors including business taxes, sales and gross receipt taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and wealth and property taxes.

Pennsylvania's low personal income tax, holding at 3.07 percent, makes the state attractive for small Limited Liability Companies, said Steve Kniley, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

The LLC format is ideal for bootstrap entrepreneurs who can benefit from the protection from personal liability that LLC's provide and do not have the large numbers of stock holders necessitating a more conventional C corporation arrangement.

And LCC's don't have to pay corporate net income tax or the equally unpopular Corporate Stock and Franchise Tax, Kniley said.

Pennsylvania also has the best ranked business tax climate among its mid-Atlantic region neighbors with the exception of Delaware, which rates 8th in the nation but, like Pennsylvania, ranks poorly in the Tax Foundation's business tax index.