Publications
Corporate Income Taxes
The federal corporate income tax was first instituted in 1909 when income above $5,000 was subjected to a one percent tax rate. Since then it has changed approximately 35 times, with the current top rate at 35 percent. Additionally, many states levy corporate income taxes of their own. Economists have long understood that corporate income taxes are double taxes, since the same income is taxed once as profit, and once as individual income when distributed as dividends to shareholders. Contrary to popular misconception, the ultimate burden of corporate income taxes doesn't fall on corporations, but is instead borne by workers, shareholders and consumers.
Additional questions about corporate taxes? Contact us at (202) 464-6200.
Publications from The Tax Foundation
- Comparing Financing of the House and Senate Health Care Reform Plans, by Gerald Prante, October 30, 2009
- Taxes, Competitiveness and the New Hampshire Business Climate (Testimony before the New Hampshire Legislature), by Scott A. Hodge, October 21, 2009
- Where Do State and Local Governments Get Their Tax Revenue?, by Gerald Prante, October 9, 2009
- 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index (Seventh Edition), by Kail Padgitt, September 22, 2009
- Corporate Taxes and Wages: Evidence from the 50 States, by Robert Carroll, August 6, 2009
- U.S. Lags while Competitors Accelerate Corporate Income Tax Reform, by Scott A. Hodge and Andre Dammert, August 5, 2009
- The Corporate Income Tax and Workers’ Wages: New Evidence from the 50 States, by Robert Carroll, August 3, 2009
- New Surtax and Expiring Tax Cuts Could Hit Business Income Simultaneously, by Scott A. Hodge, July 17, 2009
- Bank Secrecy, Tax Havens and International Tax Competition, by Robert Carroll, May 13, 2009
- Moving Forward with Bipartisan Tax Policy, by Robert Carroll, John E. Chapoton, Maya MacGuineas and Diane Lim Rogers, February 12, 2009
- The Effect of the Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans on Flow-Through Businesses, by Robert Carroll, October 23, 2008
- North Dakota's Measure 2: How Would Rate Cuts Affect the Peace Garden State's Competitiveness?, by Joseph Henchman, October 17, 2008
- KPMG Study Finds U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Higher Than Every Global Region, by Scott A. Hodge, September 17, 2008
- Comparing International Corporate Tax Rates: U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Increasingly Out of Line by Various Measures, by Robert Carroll, August 28, 2008
- Tax Foundation Urges Texas Court to Avoid Sparking an Interstate Tax War, by Joseph Henchman and Paul Galindo, August 25, 2008
- Senator McCain?s and Senator Obama?s Tax Plans: Different Roads Taken, by Robert Carroll, August 15, 2008
- U.S. Corporate Taxes Now 50 Percent Higher than OECD Average, by Scott A. Hodge, August 13, 2008
- Testimony on H.R. 5267, the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2008, by Joseph Henchman, June 24, 2008
- Arizona's Special Interest Laundry List, by Josh Barro and Joseph Henchman, June 24, 2008
- Certainty and Uniformity: The Standards (Testimony Before Congress on H.R. 5267, the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2008), by Joseph Henchman, June 24, 2008
- The Distributional Impact of Windfall Profits Taxes and a Gas Tax Holiday, by Gerald Prante, May 2, 2008
- Urging a Stop to South Dakota's Discriminatory Insurance Taxes -- Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Kinsman, by Joseph Henchman, April 15, 2008
- Tax: Fundamentals in Advance of Reform (Testimony of Robert J. Carroll Before the Senate Committee on Finance), by Robert Carroll, April 15, 2008
- The Economic Consequences of Being Left Behind: A U.S. Business Tax System that is Out of Line Internationally, by Robert Carroll, April 4, 2008
- U.S. States Lead the World in High Corporate Taxes, by Scott A. Hodge, March 18, 2008
- Fiscal Stimulus: Missing the Big Picture?, by Robert Carroll, January 11, 2008
- Congress Finally Considers Lower Corporate Tax Rate but Underestimates International Tax Competition, by Chris Atkins and Scott A. Hodge, October 25, 2007
- Personalizing the Corporate Income Tax, by Scott A. Hodge and Gerald Prante, October 25, 2007
- Q&A on the Carried Interest Debate, by TF Staff, September 7, 2007
- U.S. Still Lagging Behind OECD Corporate Tax Trends, by Chris Atkins and Scott A. Hodge, July 24, 2007
- Asking the U.S. Supreme Court to Settle Tax Nexus Issue?FIA Card Services, N.A., fka MBNA America Bank, N.A., v. Tax Commissioner of the State of West Virginia, by Chris Atkins and Kyle O. Sollie, May 9, 2007
- The Hidden Tax for Sm(all) Business in Governor Blagojevich's Gross Receipts Tax, by Chris Atkins, March 29, 2007
- Putting Taxes on the Map: Federal Tax Burdens by City, County, Congressional District and State, by Andrew Chamberlain and Gerald Prante, March 22, 2007
- Estimating Federal Tax Burdens for Major City Areas, Counties, and U.S. Congressional Districts, by Andrew Chamberlain and Gerald Prante, March 22, 2007
- Corporate Tax Reform Will Enhance Kansas Competitiveness, by Jonathan Williams and Chris Atkins, February 21, 2007
- Gross Receipts Taxes in State Government Finances: A Review of Their History and Performance, by John L. Mikesell, January 31, 2007
- Tax Reform in Michigan: Replacing the Single Business Tax, by Chris Atkins and Jonathan Williams, January 24, 2007
- Tax Pyramiding: The Economic Consequences of Gross Receipts Taxes, by Andrew Chamberlain and Patrick Fleenor, December 4, 2006
- Double-Taxing Capital Income: How Bad Is the Problem?, by Patrick Fleenor, November 16, 2006
- Options for Reforming the U.S. Corporate Income Tax, by Jonathan Williams and Patrick Fleenor, May 8, 2006
- Surge in Corporate Income Tax Collections Offers Opportunity for Tax Reform, by Jonathan Williams, May 8, 2006
- Growing Amount of Business Income Taxed by the Individual Income Tax Code, by Gerald Prante and Jonathan Williams, May 8, 2006
- U.S. Lagging Behind OECD Corporate Tax Trends, by Scott A. Hodge and Chris Atkins, May 5, 2006
- Large Oil Industry Tax Payments Undercut Case for Windfall Profits Tax, by Jonathan Williams and Scott A. Hodge, January 31, 2006
- The U.S. Corporate Income Tax System: Once a World Leader, Now A Millstone Around the Neck of American Business, by Chris Atkins and Scott A. Hodge, November 15, 2005
- A Twentieth Century Tax in the Twenty-First Century: Understanding State Corporate Tax Systems, by Chris Atkins, September 30, 2005
- Tax Reform and Revenue Neutrality: President's Panel Should Avoid the Redistribution of 1986, by Chris Atkins, July 13, 2005
- Montana Corporate Tax Disclosure Lawsuit is Built on Shaky Foundations, by Chris Atkins, March 22, 2005
- Manufacturing Employment, Productivity and the Business Cycle, by John A. Tatom, Ph.D., February 1, 2004
- The Corporate Tax Burden, by Stephen Slivinski, November 1, 2003
- The Economic and Political Implications of Repealing the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, by Michael S. Knoll and Terrence Chorvat, February 1, 2002
- The Economics of Government Subsidies: The Case of Rural Electric Cooperatives and the Propane Gas Industry, by William P. Orzechowski, November 1, 2001
- A Primer on the Corporate Income Tax: Incidence, Efficiency and Equity Issues, by Michael L. Marlow, November 1, 2001
- The Corporate Tax Burden, by John S. Barry, October 1, 2001
- The Federal Corporate Income Tax Since WWII, by J. Scott Moody, August 1, 1998
- A Half Century of Small Business Federal Income Tax Rates and Collections, by Arthur P. Hall, Ph.D. and Gary Leff, October 1, 1996
- The Impact of Federal Taxes on the Use of Debt by Closely-Held Corporations, by John R. Robinson, Stephen T. Limberg and C. Bryan Cloyd, November 1, 1995
- The Determinants of the Choice of Income Type as a Measure of Performance in Bonus Plans, by Daryl M. Guffey and Gregory A. Carnes, October 1, 1995
- The Approaching State Corporate Income Tax Crisis, by J. Dwight Evans, September 10, 1995
- Has Taxable Income Overtaken Financial Reporting Income?, by B. Anthony Billings, October 1, 1994
- Effects of Tax Policy on Corporate Financing Decisions: Integration of the Corporate and Personal Income Tax, by Craig T. Schulman, Ph.D., Deborah W. Thomas, J.D. and Keith F. Sellers, D.B.A, October 1, 1994
- A Primer on the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, by Chris R. Edwards, March 1, 1994
- The Corporate Tax Burden, by Chris R. Edwards, March 1, 1993
- Corporate Tax Burden Rises, by Paul G. Merski, July 1, 1991
- The Corporate Tax Burden, by Paul G. Merski, January 1, 1990
- The Uses of a Business Transfer Tax, by TF Staff, December 20, 1985
- Taxing Foreign Source Income: A Businessman's View, by B. Kenneth Sanden, December 1, 1977
- Corporate Tax Integration: A Quantitative Comparison of Alternatives, by Martin S. Feldstein and Daniel J. Frisch, December 1, 1977
- Taxing Foreign Source Income: The Economic and Equity Issues, by Norman B. Ture, May 1, 1976
- The Corporation Income Tax: An Examination of Its Role in the Federal Tax System, by TF Staff, December 1, 1968
- Current Problems and Issues in State Taxation of interstate Commerce, January 30, 1966
- Reexamining the Federal Corporation Income Tax, by TF Staff, January 1, 1958
- Factors Affecting Industrial Location: A Bibliography, by TF Staff, December 1, 1956