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South Dakota governor candidate looks to drive business to neighboring states

August 18, 2009

South Dakota has no corporate or individual income tax. This makes it a very attractive state to establish businesses. A candidate for South Dakota Governor wants to put a stop to that nonsense. David Brunori reports:

In the words of the hippies and yippies at Woodstock, that's crazy man. But Ron Volesky, a long time Democratic lawmaker running for Governor, is calling for an income tax. Well, he is calling for an income tax on corporate profits -- not on individual income. Still, South Dakota is one of nine states without a broad based income tax and most politicians run like crazy from the idea.

As well they should:

The last time anyone seriously proposed an income tax in South Dakota was in the early 1970s and the Democrats behind the idea were hammered in the following elections.

Iowa's corporate income tax raises less revenue than Iowa's corporate welfare breaks give away. Why would South Dakota find that attractive?