According to the 2010 State Business Tax Climate report released this week by the Washington D.C. based Tax Foundation, Florida remains among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to “business friendly” taxes. Florida ranked 5th in this year’s report and has had the best ranking among Southern states for several years in a row. A spokeswoman for the Tax Foundation stressed that the rankings don’t reflect how much money the taxes raise, but how broad and competitive the structure is compared to other states. Florida’s advantage comes mostly from having a state constitution that prohibits an income tax.

The Tax Foundation report also looked at property taxes, unemployment taxes, corporate income taxes and sales taxes. Even though they included Florida’s now higher cigarette tax in overall sales taxes, it did not change the overall ranking. Additionally, Florida ranked 1st on individual income taxes, 15th on corporate income taxes, 32nd on sales taxes, 3rd on unemployment insurance taxes and 22nd in the nation on property taxes.

Not bad for a state that offers tons of fun in the sun as its number one commodity.

Tags: Florida, growth, taxes