A new report says Connecticut ranks among the five states with the worst tax climates for business.
The report issued Tuesday by the nonprofit Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., said Connecticut managed a “remarkable drop”-from 38th in last year’s index to 47th in this year’s-mostly by creating a new “millionaire’s bracket” on the individual income tax.
Income over $500,000 dollars will now be taxed at 6.5 percent in Connecticut, a significant increase over the previous top rate of 5 percent, the report said. That tax hike was part of a budget plan passed by the state legislature in 2009, that Gov. M. Jodi Rell refused to sign. Since Rell didn’t veto the budget plan, however, it went into law automatically.
It’s the worst ranking Connecticut has received in at least the last five years. Only New Jersey, California, and New York, have worse business tax climates than the Nutmeg state, the report said.
The report has been published less than a week before the Nov. 2 midterm elections, in which candidates have made Connecticut’s tax burden a hot button issue.
 “Connecticut is ranked 47th, which means that our small businesses could move to almost any other state in the country and find a better business climate,” said National Federation of Independent Business of Connecticut Director Andy Markowski. “We’ve been on the losing end of the competition between the states to attract businesses and unless we change direction that trend is going to accelerate.”
In its report the Foundation makes clear that labor and capital migrate to the most competitive environments, and that states with high taxes and costly regulations are likely to lose businesses and workers, Markowski said.
 Markowski, whose organization represents thousands of small businesses in the state, urged lawmakers to focus in the next session on cutting regulatory red tape, speeding up the permitting process and, most importantly, reducing taxes on small businesses.
