I’m sure that many of you have heard your Republican friends bemoan how bad the economy is under President Obama. How our corporate tax rate of 35% is the highest in the world and how that makes us less competitive with other countries.
It is true that the 35% tax rate is the highest of other industrial nations, but to assert that makes us less competitive is patently false. The facts show a much different picture. U.S. corporations are enjoying record high earnings and profits. The stock market is at an all time high.
Our tax code is progressive which means that the 35% rate is only paid on a portion of the company’s highest taxable income. Therefore no company pays 35% on its total taxable income.
The average tax rate of the Fortune 500 companies is only 19%, nowhere close to 35% and very competitive with other industrial nations. To add insult to injury, 25% of these companies pay NO TAX at all (that’s zero, zip, nada). How’s that for making our corporations less competitive.
In 1952 corporate taxes accounted for 33% of all taxes paid to the government. Today it is 10% and projected to go lower. That means that ordinary citizens bear the brunt of supporting the government.
So next time someone tells you that President Obama is stifling business please give that person the facts.
Ron Mandelbaum, President
