The Tax Foundation today released one of its periodic reviews of the “state of the states” in regard to their business tax environments. The State Business Tax Climate Index for 2011 is a comprehensive look at taxes that affect business, including unemployment insurance and property taxes as well as corporate income and sales taxes.

Spoiler alert: the top 5 business-friendly states, coming up. more

Make mine a Double Irish. Oh, and I’ll take a Dutch Sandwich with that.

Or, at least, I would … if I could use these two tax strategies to get my income tax rate to where Google’s overseas rate is. more

After an avalanche of complaints from the business community, the IRS in late September scaled back a requirement that large corporations disclose their uncertain tax positions on their tax returns. But many senior business executives are still jittery about the new rule, judging by the results of a KPMG poll released today. more

The province of Cebu in the Philippines is rapidly gaining a viral-video-based reputation as a place where the most unlikely groups of people, such as prison inmates and flight attendants, are likely to burst into displays of dance at any moment. The latest example is this video of energetic — and surprisingly young, I have to say — tax agents, whose aim is to help the citizens of the 160-plus islands of Cebu “pay their taxes with a smile.” ###

The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement has been around for more than a decade, and most corporate tax pros are familiar with this effort to simplify collection and administration of these taxes by businesses and states. Less well known is the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board’s (SSTGB’s) program of certified service providers. If you’re in the market for a sales and use tax solution, it’s definitely worth checking out. In some cases, the Streamlined states will pay for the software provided by the certified firms, and users get audit protection for errors resulting from information provided by the vendors. more