10 Worst states for starting a business

Attention libertarians! Find out where the cold, dead hand of the state weighs heaviest. Rankings provided by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

By Mina Kimes
Taxes
Top personal income tax rate: 9.5%
Top corporate income tax rate: 8.5%
Property tax: 5.19%
Energy
Electric Utilities Costs †: 1.27
Labor
Minimum wage: $7.53
† Index of state's average revenue/kilowatt hour.
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43. Vermont
Vermont slid to a worse position on the SBE Council's black list this year, due to its high personal income tax--now the third worst in the country--and formidable property taxes. "Healthcare is cheap, but the taxation burden is too high," Kerrigan says. While the state's natural beauty continues to draw tourists, it's struggling to attract--and keep--businesses.
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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2012 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .