The Blog

Cindi Holmstrom, Director of Revenue Cindi Holmstrom, Director of Revenue

04/25/08

Washington has the fourth-best tax system in the nation for entrepreneurs and small businesses, according to the Business Tax Index 2008 issued recently by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

The Council ranks the states from best to worst in terms of the costs of their tax systems on entrepreneurship and small business. Last November, the Council ranked Washington fourth in its Small Business Survival Index for 2007, and last July, Forbes magazine ranked Washington as the fifth-best state in which to do business. More information on the Council's Business Tax Index 2008 is available at http://www.sbecouncil.org/news/display.cfm?ID=2645.

Positive rankings such as these are encouraging, but the Department of Revenue understands that it needs to continue to make it as easy as possible for businesses to operate while meeting their tax obligations. We recently redesigned our web site to make it easier for businesses to get tax information, developed a series of industry-specific tax guides, and encourage business to file their returns electronically instead of using error-prone paper returns.

We have more work to do, but I am proud of what the Department has accomplished by working with businesses to identify ways we can reduce barriers to success.