Our corporate tax system needs to be overhauled. First, tax breaks should end for companies that ship jobs overseas. If we care about seeing “Made in the USA” again we need to level the playing field by eliminating such tax loopholes for big corporations.
Second, many big companies – like GE and Verizon – pay zero federal income taxes in some years. American small businesses that pay their fair share are subsidizing large corporations that dodge their taxes. That has to end.
Third, corporate America needs to contribute more. The corporate share of federal revenue has declined by more than 60 percent over the last 50 years – plummeting from 22 percent to 8 percent. Though the official corporate income tax rate is 35 percent, U.S. corporations actually pay 25 percent on average – and in 2011 they only paid 12 percent, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.
As Americans who are loyal to our communities and our country, we pay our taxes because it’s an investment in America and the next generation. Big corporations should do no less.
Infographics
Corporations Now Pay Less Than 8% of All Federal Revenue
You Pay More in Taxes Than Some Big Corporations
Resources
ATF Corporate Tax Dodgers: 10 Companies and Their Tax Loopholes, April 2013
ATF 9 Reasons Corporations Should Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes, March 2013
Highlights of Post-Fiscal Cliff Poll on Corporate and Individual Taxes, January 2013
ATF Revenue Options Fact Sheet
Beyond the Bush Tax Cuts: Five Options for Raising More Revenue
ATF: Corporate Tax Letter to Senators signed by 515 organizations
The United States Has a Low Corporate Tax Rate [Citizens for Tax Justice, 04/05/12]
Big No-Tax Corporations Just Keep Dodging [Citizens for Tax Justice, 04/09/12]
Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010 [Citizens for Tax Justice, 11/3/11]
Six Tests for Corporate Tax Reform [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 02/24/12]
Watch the trailer to the film, We’re Not Broke
Tax Havens and Territorial Tax System
Cut Unjustified Tax Loopholes Act, S. 268, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act, S. 250, Sen. Bernie Sandiers (I-VT) and H.R. 694, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
ATF Letter Supporting Sanders Bill S. 250
The Fiscal and Economic Risks of Territorial Taxation [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 1/31/13]
Why Congress Should Reject a “Territorial” System and a “Repatriation” Amnesty [Citizens for Tax Justice, 10/9/11]
Apple, Microsoft and Eight Other Corporations Each Increased Their Offshore Profit Holdings by $5 Billion or More in 2012 [Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/11/13]
Congressional Research Service Finds Evidence of Massive Tax Avoidance by US Corporations Using Tax Havens [Citizens for Tax Justice, 1/25/13]
Fortune 500 Companies Holding $1.6 Trillion in Profits Offshore [Citizens for Tax Justice, 12/13/12]
