Over half of Australian businesses have evaluated Victoria as the most challenging state to do business in the country, adding that they have to pay the highest taxes nationally. The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) released a new report introducing its first index that ranked the cost of operating business in all states and territories in Australia on Feb. 9. Fifty-five per cent of Victorian firms, which also operate in other parts of Australia, ranked Victoria as the hardest place to do business nationwide. In contrast, just seven percent of the businesses said the Andrews government was doing very well on slashing the cost of doing business. The state had the highest local and state tax in the country, with businesses paying 6.2 percent of gross state product, followed by New South Wales at 5.7 percent. Victoria was also the second-worst place in terms of the number of …