Saturday, May 06, 2017

COTW: The High Corporate Tax Lie

US Person often hears neo-facist apologists claim the US has the highest corporate tax rate in the world at 35%.  That is a true statement has far as it goes, but that is not very far at all.  What the corporatists fail to mention is that the US has one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates in the developed world. The effective rate is the whole story since that is what determines how much revenue is raised.  This chart shows the whole truth:


The US effective corporate tax rate is 25% of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average at about 13%.  Some very large US corporations earning billions in profit pay no federal taxes due to deductions, deferrals and credits.  Just ask ace businessman Donald Trump, who is enjoying a multi-year tax deferral due to his business losses, or that icon of finance capitalism, Warren Buffet, who is candid enough to admit that high corporate taxes in the US is a lie.