BOSTON - One recent business survey gives Massachusetts the unfavorable rating as No. 4 when it comes to collecting business taxes.

Another study lists the state at No. 12 in the amount of taxes collected. Rivals such as California, New York and Michigan collected much more. Another category in the survey is even more positive: Massachusetts ranks 43rd in the percentage of taxes to total business revenues.

It seems there is a business study to support whatever argument you want to make about taxes in Massachusetts.

But the dueling reports, used to justify or reject Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to pull another $500 million from corporations, could be misleading.

Robert Tannenwald, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's New England Public Policy Center, says lawmakers should not depend on these rankings because they analyze data in ways that are not comparable from state to state. "Too often, people on both sides of this question look at all the indicators that are easy to compute and support their view without thinking about whether the indicator is valid," he said.

A CFO magazine survey released in January says Massachusetts enforces tax laws more frequently than other states. But other numbers in the survey bear scrutiny. The magazine sent questionnaires to 5,500 chief financial officers and tax lawyers across the country asking how they ranked the aggressiveness of state corporate tax measures.

Only 282 replied.

"The questions all relate to the aggressiveness and perceived arbitrariness with which the tax laws are enforced - not how heavy the business tax burden is relative to other locations," Tannenwald said. "That might be a concern, but it's not about business tax burden."

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and Associated Industries of Massachusetts have used the survey to argue that Massachusetts' heavy-handed taxing policy chases away business.

"The survey is not just a random couple of hundred people - it's decision makers and companies," said Eileen McAnneny, vice president of government affairs for Associated Industries. "It becomes pretty important when it's 200 people who think Massachusetts is not an option to expand their businesses because of tax structure."

The commonwealth was ranked the fourth most likely state to enforce tax-combining rules, an element in Gov. Patrick's corporate tax proposal.

But an Ernst & Young report released in February suggests different scenarios.

Massachusetts ranked 12th in total state and local business taxes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, in a review of state business tax reports from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006.

The study also ranked Massachusetts as the 11th highest state and local business property taxes in the nation, collecting $5.9 billion in property taxes a year. In No. 1-ranked Texas, businesses paid $22.2 billion. No. 2-ranked New York collected $20 billion. Massachusetts ranks No. 8 in state and local corporate income tax. The commonwealth collects less money than California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan - all states that compete with Massachusetts for high technology businesses.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, an independent research center, cites this survey to support Patrick's plan.

"This is the right way to look at business taxes," said Noah Berger, executive director for the policy center. "Look at the total share of overall taxes in other states as they are compared to Massachusetts."

Although the Ernst & Young study ranks all states together, Tannenwald said a selective comparison of competing states paints a more accurate picture. Rural states, for example, rank better to business than states with larger industrial bases.

"It's useful to single out other New England states and other states in the nation that possess characteristics similar to New England counterparts," Tannenwald said. "A 50-state comparison is of less value."

Tannenwald said the best way to depict the corporate tax burden in a state is by the percentage of state and local business tax relative to gross profits made in that state.

The Ernst & Young report said businesses in 42 states pay a larger percentage of business taxes when comparing total state and local taxes and private sector gross state product than in Massachusetts.

At 38.7 percent, Massachusetts businesses paid $13.1 billion in business taxes during fiscal year 2006. Texas businesses carry a larger tax burden at 64 percent of the total taxes, paying $49.4 billion and California businesses paid $75.3 billion, accounting for 42.3 percent of the state's taxes.

Tannenwald said even this method is flawed, as corporations don't consistently record profits on a state-by-state margin.

He also says tax burdens and the threat of increased corporate taxes are not the only factor businesses consider when they look for a new location. The cost of energy, labor and cost of living are major factors.

Editor's note: This report was compiled by the Boston University Statehouse Program