North New Castle News

Fueled by a system of low property taxes, no sales tax and a low unemployment compensation tax, Delaware ranks in the top 25 percent of state business tax structures.

For the second straight year, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation rated Delaware No. 11 in the country, continuing a trend that has seen the state rank in the top 20 in each of the last five years. Delaware also ranks third in the country in unemployment compensation, or the tax split between employer and employee.

The rankings are based on tax structure rather than tax burdens, and states with complex tax codes are thought to suffer in the rankings.

“While the amount of revenue a state raises gets a lot of attention, it doesn’t tell the whole story about a state’s tax system,” Tax Foundation lead-report author Jared Walczak, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, said in a news release. “The goal of the index is to start a conversation between taxpayers and legislators about how their tax system compares with other states, and provide a roadmap for improvement.”

Wyoming ranked No. 1 in the report with Delaware's neighbors, Pennsylvania (29), Maryland (43) and New Jersey (50), all finishing in the lower half.