NEW YORK – The effective tax rate for America’s largest and most profitable corporations has sharply declined in recent years, and one third of such companies paid zero taxes—or less—in at least one of the last three years, according to a study released yesterday.
At the same time, IRS data indicates that the overall share of federal taxes paid by corporations in now less than 10%, down from nearly 13% in 1997.
The study released yesterday by Citizens for Tax Justice and the affiliated Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that in 2003 alone, 46 of the 275 companies it reviewed paid no taxes at all in 2003, despite reporting a total of $42.6 billion in pre-tax profits. Indeed, these companies received $5.4 billion in tax rebates that year. In the last three years, 82 of the country’s largest profitable corporations paid no federal income tax for at least one year of the Bush administration’s first three years, the study found.
The overall effective tax rate for these companies was 17.2% in 2003 and 2002, down from 21.4% in 2001. The current effective rate is about half the putative 35% tax rate on the profits of large companies.
For this complete story, please visit U.S. Corporations Paying Less In Taxes.
