Corporate taxes in the United States are too high and too complicated to the point that competitiveness and job creation are suffering, according to the Tax Foundation.
"The key to restoring American competitiveness and our long-term economic growth is cutting the corporate tax rate," says Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge in a statement reiterating a call for reform in a video series.
"The Tax Foundation's new video series will help put the burden of corporate taxes in perspective and encourage policymakers to consider new ideas for reforming the U.S. corporate tax system."
The federal corporate income tax was first instituted in 1909 with a one percent tax rate. Since then it has grown in size and complexity, with the current top rate at 35 percent.
"When additional state rates are added, the average tax rate for U.S. corporations rises to 39.2 percent, the second highest in the developed world, only slightly behind Japan's," the Tax Foundation finds.
Reform must come now, the nonpartisan research organization insists, as other countries are taking the opposite approach to that of the United States by reforming their tax structures to improve their competitiveness.
Tax reform may come if a Republican wins the White House in the 2012 elections, says Kenneth Kies, a tax lobbyist in Washington D.C. who lists General Electric and Microsoft as clients.
Only a Republican could win over more conservative members of Congress with a moderate tax reform proposal.
"If you end up with a Republican in the White House, and that person puts a personal stake into getting tax reform," Kies tells Reuters, "it would allow that person to negotiate what might be a more moderate package than the hard right would normally be willing to agree to, and they might feel compelled to vote for it because it's their president."
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