• State Tax Climate Survey
• Working From Home
• Gender Does Not Play Role In Preparedness To Sell Businesses

State Tax Climate Survey

Wyoming and South Dakota are the states with the best business tax climate, according to a recent study. The data was collected by the Tax Foundation, a tax research group based in Washington, D.C. The study is designed to measure the amount of low, flat tax rates and how and if state taxpayers are treated equally. States are rated on five different areas of taxation, such as individual income taxes, major business taxes and sales taxes. Organizers say the study is designed to show lawmakers, the media and the public how their state compares with others and helps pinpoint areas for improvement. Other states that rated well included Alaska, Nevada and Florida. Some of the worst states in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index were Rhode Island, Ohio and New Jersey. Working From Home Nearly half of the nation’s 16.6 million businesses are home-based, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. “It’s a way to save money because you can avoid leasing an office space and all the costs associated with that,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the legislative office of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). Most home-based businesses were professional, scientific and technical services (19 percent), according to the study. Construction, retail trade and real estate also ranked high. Women tend to lead the trend. The study found that about 56 percent of women-owned businesses are run from a home office, whereas the same is true for only 47 percent of men. The study showed 53 percent of home businesses were owned by African Americans, while 52 percent were by whites, 45 percent by Hispanics and 28 percent by Asians. Gender Does Not Play Role In Preparedness To Sell Businesses Most women business owners have a long-term exit strategy for selling their business, according to a recent study by the Center for Women’s Business Research. The survey was conducted nationally and targeted business owners of both genders whose companies were at least five years old. The companies were also required to have grossed $1 million or more in revenues the previous year. “We’ve seen quite a bit of growth in companies owned by women in the past several years,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the legislative office of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). “The association is always looking for ways to continue to support and educate women on issues they’ll run into when starting, growing or selling a business.” Organizers of the study say they hope this busts the myth that women are not as prepared as men when deciding what to do with a company that they intend to leave. Both genders are motivated by profitability, but the study found that women are more likely to take the impact of the sale on employees into account. Additionally, results showed that women business owners are almost twice as likely as men business owners to intend to pass their company on to a daughter or daughters (37 percent versus 19 percent). The study found that 83 percent of women business owners have a long-term exit strategy for selling their business. It also reported that women and men both said price was the most important factor when selling. For more information on the study, visit http://www.womensbusinessresearch.org/. For tips and resources from the NASE, visit http://women.NASE.org.