Sunday, September 23, 2012

US Corporate Tax Rates High

A new study on corporate tax rates makes the point that US corporate tax rates are rather high. I didn't realize this, so I thought it was interesting. There study is here, but like all good empirical research, the gist is in a simple graph:

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The effective rate is more relevant since the US tax code also has many tax breaks. In terms of taxes actually paid, the US is around average.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/05/02/business/20110503_RATES_graphic.html?ref=economy

Eric Falkenstein said...

That's interesting. Clearly, like personal taxes, it gets complicated very quickly. I noticed the NYTimes study looks at the top 1000 corporations, which is a rather biased sample.

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577199492233215330.html

Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.

Nassim Taleb said...

Rather biased? It looks on top 1000 largest companies in US that contribute 96% percent to total corporate profits.

It seems like you get your point out and then do not apply any critical thinking to it

Eric Falkenstein said...

It says "top 1000 in the World", and nothing about having 96% of total profits. It also excluded companies with losses, which biases it downward. And many countries had effective rates above their statutory rates, which is confusing (why do some companies pay 19% when the tax rate is 12%?).

Most 'tax loopholes' are highly touted 'stimulus plans'. A high base rate, with lots of exceptions for crony capitalists, is the worst system possible.