North Carolina’s improvement has been modest after making the largest ever
one-year ranking upswing from 44th in 2014 to 16th in 2015.
The improvement came primarily following tax reforms passed by the
Republican-controlled General Assembly in October 2013.
The reforms included: reducing the individual income tax from a top rate of
7.75 percent to a flat rate of 5.499 percent by 2017; a higher standard
deduction for all taxpayers; a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 6.9
percent to 4 percent; and repeal of the estate tax.
