In Texas and the Austin region, we've formalized a friendly attitude into a business climate that is truly user friendly. The tax structure is fair, competitive and designed to make companies feel welcome.

Texas is one of only a handful of states with no individual income tax (a very attractive environment for transferring employees).

There is no corporate income tax.

Total state and local taxes averaged $3,015 per person in 2005, 18.5% less than the national average. Similarly, state and local taxes in Texas are low relative to income, amounting to $100 per $1,000 of personal income, compared to the national average of $113 per $1,000.

The State of Texas offers a variety of incentive programs designed to make capital more available for businesses looking to expand or locate in the state, as well as for companies already doing business in Texas. Committed to retaining its "business friendly" reputation, Texas stands ready to help businesses expand, and become globally competitive.

There is a reason why the Austin business community includes such famous names as IBM, Applied Materials, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung, 3M, Freescale, Tokyo Electron and others. We worked hard to get them here. The city, the counties, the region and the state—government, community and business leaders—rallied to attract these businesses. We are ready to do so again and the incentives available for investment and job creation are competitive with peer regions anywhere in the nation.