Corporate Tax Reform: Be Careful What You Wish For

jaredbernsteinblog.com — Pretty much every discussion of tax reform these days ends with an agreement that we need to broaden the base and lower the rates.  Well, the White House today will release the broad outlines of a plan to do just that on the corporate side of the federal tax code. According to advance info, the proposal will be to cut the current top corporate rate of 35% down to 28%, and to close a bunch of loopholes to make up the difference. And therein lies the rub.  It is widely recognized that many corporations already pay far less than the statutory rate. I don’t think today’s release will go into much detail on specifics but the implication is clear: if those who have been clamoring for a lower corporate rate are serious, they need to step up and support these loophole closures. In that sense, the White House’s proposal creates an interesting political challenge.  

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