As Europe Cuts Corporate Tax, Pressure Rises on U.S. to Follow:
Following the lead of Ireland, which dropped its rates to 12.5% from 24% between 2000 and 2003, one nation after another has moved toward lower corporate rates with fewer loopholes. The Netherlands, the second most popular European target for U.S. investment, recently joined the movement, lowering its corporate rates by three percentage points to 31.5% and simplifying its tax structure.The corporate-tax cutters of recent years stretch from Portugal, where the rate has dropped 10 points to about 27%, to Austria, down nine points to about 25%. Even Germany, which has Europe’s highest rate and has bitterly opposed the plummeting tax rates elsewhere in the region, has done some dramatic trimming — from as high as 56% six years ago, according to data from KPMG LLP, to 38.3% last year.
At this point, you may be asking, just what is the corporate tax rate in the US?
Germany’s trims leave the standard U.S. rate — about 40% including average state taxes — above that of every country in Europe, according to separate studies by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and KPMG.
Sigh.