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Daily Archives: March 10, 2017

International Comparisons of Corporate Income Tax Rates

“In the United States, the top federal statutory corporate income tax rate (the rate set by law that applies to the highest corporate income tax bracket) has been 35 percent since 1993. Most corporate income is taxed at that rate. With state taxes added in, the top statutory rate is even higher; on average, that combined rate was 39.1 percent in 2012, among the highest in the world .

The statutory corporate tax rate is one of many features of the tax system that influence corporate behavior. Companies are likely also to consider other provisions of the tax system—including tax preferences, surtaxes, and noncorporate taxes—that affect the amount of taxes they owe. Among the alternative measures of tax rates that account for some of those provisions are the average and effective marginal corporate tax rates.

The average corporate tax rate is a measure of the total amount of corporate taxes that a company pays as a share of its income. CBO estimates that the U.S. average corporate tax rate for foreign-owned companies incorporated in the United States in 2012 was 29 percent—about 10 percentage points below the top U.S. statutory corporate tax rate.

The effective marginal corporate tax rate (in this document, the effective corporate tax rate), is a measure of a corporation’s tax burden on returns from a marginal investment (one that is expected to earn just enough, after taxes, to attract investors). CBO estimates that the effective corporate tax rate was 19 percent in the United States in 2012. That rate, the fourth highest among the Group of 20 (G20) countries, was about 20 percentage points below the top U.S. statutory corporate tax rate.

This chart book is an update and expansion of CBO’s 2005 report that examined statutory and effective corporate tax rates for the United States and member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of 7 between 1982 and 2003. This report focuses mainly on the 2012 tax rates in countries that are members of the G20. CBO expanded the analysis to include average tax rates, which were estimated on the basis of information reported for income and taxes paid by corporations in a given year. For both this report and the 2005 report, effective corporate tax rates were derived from simulations based on certain features of the various countries’ tax systems.”

CBO – Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, March 2017

“Under current law, as of March 16, the Treasury will be at the statutory borrowing limit and will need to use “extraordinary measures” to continue raising cash. Those measures would probably be exhausted sometime this fall.” “The debt limit—commonly referred to as the debt ceiling—is the maximum amount of debt that the Department of the… Continue Reading

U.S. States Renamed for Countries With Similar GDPs

Visual Capitalist – This Map Shows U.S. States Renamed for Countries With Similar GDPs – “We’ve previously tried to put America’s $18 trillion economy in perspective using different maps – and we’ve also shown it in the context of the world’s $74 trillion economy. Today’s map, which comes from the Carpe Diem blog at the… Continue Reading

Politico – All of Trump’s Russia Ties, in 7 Charts

“…These charts illustrate dozens of those links, including meetings between Russian officials and members of Trump’s campaign and administration; his daughter’s ties to Putin’s friends; Trump’s 2013 visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant; and his short-lived mixed martial arts venture with one of Putin’s favorite athletes. The solid lines mark established facts, while… Continue Reading

Over Half Of States With Initiative Process Governed By GOP

State Net Capitol Journal: “Twenty-four states have a process allowing citizens to propose and submit statutes and/or constitutional amendments for approval by the electorate or legislature, according to the Initiative & Referendum Institute. Republicans control the legislature and governor’s office in 13 of those states, while Democrats control those two branches in just three states,… Continue Reading

2017 Plants of the Year

“We are happy to share in this journal a collection of plants that have received the status of ‘Plant of the Year’ as recognized by various entities based on their botanical merits.  We have also included links to some of the plants as documented by members of our community.” Continue Reading