Apologies for the headline … one of my most hated (hatedest?) words in the language is “winningest,” as liberally used by sports commentators in phrases such as “winningest coach.” But the ugliness of this bizarre bit of word coinage seems totally appropriate when you’re talking about states that impose the heaviest tax burdens on their residents and businesses. Or maybe I’ve just been listening to too much NBA commentary recently.

Anyway, the Tax Foundation this week released its 2010 Facts and Figures Handbook, an analysis of taxing and spending in the 50 states. It includes some very interesting league tables for corporate income tax rates and collections. Here are the winningest — or I guess really the losingest — states:

Pennsylvania has the highest corporate income tax rate nationwide, at 9.99 percent, narrowly beating out the District of Columbia at 9.975 percent. Four other states — Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — have top rates of 9 percent or higher. But there’s wide variation in how states distribute the income tax burden. Alaska, for example, has no fewer than 10 brackets up to $90,000 of corporate revenue; Pennsylvania and D.C. tax every dollar.

To get a clearer picture of the business tax climate in each state, the study aggregates data for several other tax domains, including sales taxes and property taxes. Based on this overall index, the taxingest state is: New Jersey, followed by New York, California, Ohio, and Iowa.

The states with the most business-friendly tax regimes: South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska (yep, despite that steep levy on corporate income), Nevada, and Florida.

The full Tax Foundation report is available here. ###