Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

December 16, 2019

Washington Post: Corporations Paid 11.3 Percent Tax Rate Last Year, in Steep Drop Under President Trump’s Law

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About 400 of America’s largest corporations paid an average federal tax rate of about 11 percent on their profits last year, roughly half the official rate established under President Trump’s 2017 tax law, according to a report released Monday.

The 2017 tax law lowered the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, but in practice large companies often pay far less than that due to deductions, tax breaks and other loopholes.

In the first year of the law, the actual amount corporations paid in federal taxes on their incomes — their so-called “effective rate” — was 11.3 percent on average, possibly its lowest level in more than three decades, according to a report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank.

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Matthew Gardner
Matthew Gardner

Senior Fellow

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