http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/u-s-companies-pay-world-s-sixth-highest-tax-rate-study-finds.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/u-s-companie

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/u-s-companies-pay-world-s-sixth-highest-tax-rate-study-finds.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-14/u-s-companies-pay-w... "The tax rate for the largest U.S. companies between 2006 and 2009 was 27.7 percent, compared with a non-U.S. average of 19.5 percent, according to the study released today. Companies based in Japan, Morocco, Italy, Indonesia and Germany faced higher tax rates. Excluding the U.S., companies based in industrialized countries had an average rate of 22.6 percent. " "A March 31 report by the Congressional Research Service, using different methodology, found that the U.S. had an effective corporate tax rate of 27.1 percent in 2008. Other industrialized countries had an average 27.7 percent effective rate, using a weighted approach that adjusted for the size of the economy, and a 23.3 percent rate with an unweighted approach. " The rest of the world has been competitively lowering corporate taxes (Sweden, once considered a socialist bastion, has a 26% corporate tax rate for example and is discussing lowering it to 20%). http://blog.american.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/022212hassett1.jpg http://blog.american.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/022212ha... And what's very important is how much the bottom 97% of US firms pay, as companies like GE dodging billions in taxes massively skews the results for small businesses who can't dodge like that. To be a small business in the US and get socked with a 40% combined income tax rate is paralyzing.