Execs Launch PR Campaign For 25% Corporate Tax Rate

Playing off the theme of “March Madness” basketball fever, the Business Roundtable is launching a public awareness campaign called the “Campaign for Home Court Advantage” to build support for lowering the corporate tax rate to 25% and limiting corporate taxes for offshore income.  

“Business leaders believe the U.S. economy will never get healthy unless we modernize our tax system,” said Business Roundtable President and former Michigan Governor John Engler. “We remain at a disadvantage in the world marketplace. That has to change.”

The Roundtable launched a similar campaign last year but plans to run this one longer.

“Last year, we recognized it was an election year and tax reform was likely not going to be a priority, but we wanted to raise visibility of the issue,” said Roundtable Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Tita Freeman. “This year, we feel is ripe for change.”

Some of the facts the campaign seeks to highlight include:

• The U.S. has the world’s highest combined statutory corporate tax rate at 39.1%
• 28 of 34 OECD countries employ a territorial (or market-based) tax system that does not tax the worldwide earnings of their global companies
• The last significant overhaul of the U.S. corporate tax system was in 1986.  Many of the provisions that determine how the U.S. taxes the foreign-earned income of its globally engaged companies date back to the early 1950s
• Only 5 OECD countries, in addition to the U.S., tax the worldwide earnings of their global companies
• A combined federal and state rate of 25% would create a tax rate roughly equal to that of America’s trading partners

The business lobby group says the U.S. tax system must be modernized if America is to compete globally.  “Our corporate tax code is a distinct disadvantage that holds us back,” states the Home Court Advantage website.  “It’s time we reclaim America’s home court advantage by fixing our broken tax system so that all American businesses can create jobs, innovate, grow, compete, and win.”