WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former United States Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) today released the following statement on behalf of the RATE Coalition, whose members and affiliates employ more than 53 million American workers in all 50 states:
“I hope my former colleagues will consider the harm to job creation and wage growth that would be caused by raising America’s corporate rate to uncompetitive levels as we continue to face a historic health crisis. Instead, we should focus on more fair, responsible ways to raise revenue like collecting the taxes that are actually owed by companies and individuals.
“Our country cannot build back better with an even higher corporate tax rate than global competitors like China. Job-creating businesses in America already pay a combined corporate rate of more than 25% – a figure that would swell to more than 32% under this proposal due to state and local taxes, making the US again the highest rate in the industrialized world. By contrast, countries that comprise the OECD pay an average rate of 23.4%, while ‘nine of the world’s largest and most advanced economies have reduced their top corporate tax rate in the past four years.’
“An increase in the corporate rate carries alarming consequences for American workers, who bear as much as 70% of the tax’s long run burden. Indeed, as a slew of studies make clear, provisions similar to the one included in this proposal threaten to reduce worker income, eliminate as many as 1 million jobs, negatively impact 1.4 million small businesses, and hit taxpayers making less than $400,000 through increased utility bills, reduced retirement income and increased living costs.”
BACKGROUND:
- Raising the corporate rate puts us further behind global competitors; when combined with state and local taxes, American corporations already pay a rate over 25%
- The average corporate tax rate among OECD countries is 23.4% – and 25% in China, who also offers lower rates to certain strategic industries the country is targeting in its quest of global supply chain dominance
- The current average corporate rate among American states is 4.8%. (25.8% when combined with the federal rate)
