No Change In SC State Tax Rankings

Last week, the Tax Foundation published its 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index, which is a rebranded and enhanced version of the State Business Tax Climate Index that it has published annually since 2003 to better reflect states’ overall tax competitiveness, not just their business tax climates. The Index compares states on several key tax metrics including corporate taxes, individual income taxes, sales, use, and excise taxes, property and wealth taxes, and unemployment insurance taxes, and has been relied upon by policymakers and advocates to understand how their state’s tax code stacks up relative to peer states and identify areas for improvement.

South Carolina’s tax system stayed stagnant at 33rd overall in this year’s Index, the same as in 2024 after applying the revised methodologies. South Carolina’s corporate and individual income tax rankings remain unchanged this year at 11th and 24th respectively, while the state’s unemployment and property tax rankings improved two spots each to 28th and 41st. Its sales tax ranking slid one spot to 33rd.