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On Defense, France Bites the Bullet, But Avoids Strategic Insolvency May 7, 2013
Iceland’s Recovery Saga Presents Opportunities for Brussels, Washington—and Beijing May 6, 2013
Which Way Forward for Europe’s Hybrid Regimes? May 2, 2013
The Arab Revolts and the Liberal Order May 2, 2013
Events
GMF celebrates its 40 year history and Founder and Chairman, Dr. Guido Goldman at Gala Dinner May 09, 2013 / Washington, DCGMF held a celebratory gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday May 8.
In this podcast, GMF Vice President of Programs Ivan Vejvoda discusses last month's historic agreement to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine
A Taxing Question
May 26, 2011 / Bruce Stokes
Corporate tax reform is now lost amid the cacophony of anguish about raising the debt ceiling. But the issue is not going away. President Obama has called for lowering corporate taxes. And House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, recently introduced legislation to enable U.S. multinationals to repatriate overseas profits at preferential tax rates.
There are three potential outcomes here. 1) Reform could die, a casualty of other priorities and conflicting agendas; 2) Corporate taxes could be cut without raising offsetting revenues, worsening the budget deficit; or 3) Companies’ tax burdens could be reduced and the tax base broadened, enhancing competitiveness while reducing the deficit.
Balancing fairness, competitiveness, and debt reduction will be no easy matter.
The U.S. corporate tax rate, 39 percent, is the highest among competing countries. But the average effective rate, after allowing for various write-offs, is only 23.5 percent, lower than that in Japan or Canada. So while the case for cutting the rate is compelling, the most important metric, the effective rate, suggests there is no reason to take a meat ax to corporate tax obligations.
In considering what to do, Congress should consider: Cutting the Rate: Seventeen countries have reduced their corporate tax rates in 2009-2010. So to keep job-creating investment in the United States, Washington needs to do the same. With a rate that is 11 percentage points above the OECD average, a cut of 7 to 10 percentage points would be reasonable, bringing the U.S. rate down to the statutory or effective OECD average.
For the full article, please see the attached PDF (taken from the National Journal)
