Unbelievable, but true. I actually agree with the Trump campaign that Corporation Tax rates in the US are way too high.
What does this mean?
First, corporation tax is a form of double taxation. Employees are taxed on their income. So if higher profits are cycled through income (and hence income tax), a government gets its bite of the cash flow. Lower corporation tax will likely have a corresponding (although likely unequal) increase in income tax. Income tax is a perfectly decent way to accrue tax revenues.
Second, high corporation tax encourages companies to spend on other things so as to reduce the burden of tax on cash flow. Is a government wise enough in the way it defines costs to encourage a company to invest wisely? No. This is not what governments should be doing.
Third, corporations contain highly portable streams of income. If a country has onerous taxes, that stream of income will move off shore. Why should companies be patriotic? They aren't people in the same way as flesh and blood humans are. A corporation is a form of synthetic person, with totally different loyalties. It may have shareholders from different countries. Getting a competitive corporation tax rate serves the interests of the company's owners. Maintaining an exceptionally high corporation tax rates gives companies a strong incentive to move out of the US.
For myself, I think a rate in the 20-25% area is reasonable. US Corporation Tax rates are some of the highest in the world.
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