New KPMG report ranks Tampa among most tax-friendly U.S. and global cities

July 15, 2016

Tampa ranked #5 in the Unites States and #14 worldwide for offering the most favorable tax structures for businesses, according to KPMG LLP’s just released Focus on Tax 2016 competitive alternatives report.

Of the 51 large international cities highlighted in the study, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Tampa all placed in the top 20 globally. Among the 10 countries in the study, the U.S. ranked seventh in terms of favorability of its overall tax structure for business.

The KPMG study is a global comparison of the total tax burden that companies in 111 cities throughout 10 countries may face, including corporate income taxes, capital taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, miscellaneous local business taxes and statutory labor costs – contributing to the study’s Total Tax Index (TTI).
Tampa scored and 81.6 on the TTI, which means that the market’s tax costs are 18.4 percent less than the U.S. baseline of 100.

The report also reaffirmed Tampa and Hillsborough County’s optimal environment for professional services operations. KPMG ranked Tampa #2 in the U.S. for its cost-effective tax structure for corporate services.

“Total taxes on corporate services operations usually closely reflect statutory labor costs, given the high significance of labor among total costs in this sector,” said Christine Bustamante, principal in the Global Location and Expansion Services practice of KPMG LLP. “Property tax costs for downtown office space are also an important influence in rankings for this sector.”

Read more about Tampa’s rankings in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.