Sticker Shock but Huge Loopholes

The United States may soon have the highest sticker rates for corporate taxes in the world declare Republicans who argue that in a world of capital mobility, the the 35% corporate tax rate must be cut for America to compete. Big corporations don't pay their fair share argue Democrats, just look at General Electric. The massive conglomerate paid no taxes last year. With a massive budget deficit corporate tax rates have to go up. So who is right? Both and neither. As has been widely reported, American corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world. So are the deductions and loopholes available for corporations to exploit. As a result, corporations pay taxes that are approximately the same in the United States as in other wealthy countries and are substantially lower than in previous years. In fact the share of corporate taxes as a percentage of both GDP and federal collections have decreased so much recently to prompt the Christian Science Monitor to ask if the corporate tax is "going away."