The PACE Coalition : Facts about Tax

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Tax Facts: Increasing Already High U.S. Corporate Taxes Will Disadvantage American Companies in the World Economy

The U.S. federal corporate tax rate is 35 percent. Including stateand local corporate income taxes, the combined corporate tax rate wasapproximately 39.3 percent in 2008 – the second highest among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.
The U.S. rate is 13 percentage points higher than the OECD average, nine percentage points higher than Germany’s and more than 11 percentage points higher than the United Kingdom’s.

Unlike most other countries, the United States taxes the worldwideearnings of U.S.-based companies, not just their U.S. earnings. To level the playing field,a series of complex tax rules have enabled American companies to payabout the same rate on their foreign earnings that their foreigncompetitors pay.
The Treasury Department now proposes to fundamentally rewrite thebasic rules of international taxation that have been in existence fornearly 100 years in a manner that would severely disadvantage U.S. companies.While most of the world is striving to make their companies morecompetitive the United States is moving in the opposite direction.

Comparison of OECD Corporate Tax Rates (2008)

International Tax Primer

U.S. tax rules significantly affect the ability of American companies to compete in foreign markets. These rules include a provision known as “deferral,” which is a key pro-competitive international tax rule for American companies. Click Here to Learn More

Myth:	U.S. companies invest abroad to lower the cost of providing goods to U.S. consumers.
Fact:	Worldwide American companies invest abroad primarily to penetrate foreign markets, which represent 95% of the world’s population and more than 75% of the world’s purchasing power.