Taxes

The South Dakota business person enjoys:

• No corporate income tax
• No personal income tax
• No personal property tax
• No business inventory tax
• No inheritance tax

CNN Money Small Business rates South Dakota as one of the top 5 best places to launch a business:

What makes the state such a tax haven? There’s no personal or corporate income tax — and South Dakota is one of a shrinking number of states that doesn’t levy a “gross receipts” business tax on revenue. Anything you ring up in sales or profit, you get to keep.

“We also have a large work force that has a very strong work ethic,” Smolik says. “We always tout that as a Midwest thing or a South Dakota thing, but we’re known for having hard workers.”

Individuals fare far better than other states as well:

Currently estimated at 7.9% of income, South Dakota’s state/local tax burden percentage ranks well below the national average of 9.7%. Taxpayers in South Dakota pay $3,079 per capita in state and local taxes.