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by stochastic_monk 3118 days ago
That's not accurate. Considering the enormous loopholes, corporations in the US actually pay something comparable to these other developed countries. The average company pays something between 12% [1] and 22% [2] -- much less than the ostensible tax rate. (See also [3,4].) Now we have nearly all the same loopholes and a lower base rate: a simple recipe for disaster.

[1] http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/01/news/economy/corporate-tax-r...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/business/economy/corporat...

[3] https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/35-percent-corpor...

[4] https://itep.org/the-35-percent-corporate-tax-myth/

2 comments

This is ignorant and misleading, the only reason effective rates are lower than 35% is because of tax deferral, specifically for foreign earnings. Taxes on those foreign earnings are still owed when repatriated, but it would be foolish to repatriate them when companies would have to pay over 40% in both state and federal taxes, and their shareholders an additional 20%+ on any dividends.

Most countries don't tax their companies foreign earnings at all, so the rates don't even compare.

The real corporate income tax rate should be zero. There is no reason to tax investment, it's hugely counterproductive. Raise the capital gains and dividend tax rates to personal income tax rates, and eliminate corporate income taxes, you've eliminated double taxation and restored progressively to our tax system.

There is zero reason an 80 year old retiree living on a fixed income should be paying over 60% in taxes on her Apple dividends.

A lower tax rate is a boon to small and mid sized US companies that make up the majority of the economy and don't have the financial scale or international presence needed to take advantage of those loopholes. These companies compete daily against foreign firms, and against US conglomerates. I don't see how your comment counters the parent's argument that this a good thing for international competitiveness.