US Corporate Tax Rates vs. All OECD Countries

Comparing US Corporate Tax Rates to 30 OECD Countries (2008)
OECD stands for the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an organization of thirty (30) countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and free-market economy. (Wikipedia)

OECD Overall RankCountry/StateFederal Rate AdjustedTop State Corporate Tax RateCombined Federal and State Rate (Adjusted) (a)US Rank
 Iowa351241.61
 Pennsylvania359.9941.52
 Minnesota359.841.43
 Massachusetts359.541.24
 Alaska359.441.15
 New Jersey359.3641.16
 Rhode Island35940.97
 West Virginia35940.98
 Maine358.9340.89
 Vermont358.940.810
 California358.8440.711
 Delaware358.740.712
 Indiana358.540.513
 New Hampshire358.540.514
 Wisconsin357.940.115
 Nebraska357.8140.116
 Idaho357.639.917
 New Mexico357.639.918
 Connecticut357.539.919
 New York357.539.920
 Kansas357.3539.821
 Illinois357.339.722
 Maryland35739.623
 North Dakota35739.624
1Japan3011.5639.54 
 Arizona356.96839.525
 North Carolina356.939.526
 Montana356.7539.427
 Oregon356.639.328
2United States356.5739.27 
 Arkansas356.539.229
 Tennessee356.539.230
 Washington *356.439.231
 Hawaii356.439.232
3Germany26.381738.9 
 Michigan *35638.933
 Georgia35638.934
 Kentucky35638.935
 Oklahoma35638.936
 Virginia35638.937
 Florida355.538.638
 Louisiana35838.539
 Missouri356.2538.440
 Ohio355.138.341
 Mississippi35538.342
 South Carolina35538.343
 Utah35538.344
 Colorado354.633845
 Alabama356.537.846
4Canada22.11436.1 
 Texas *351.636.047
 Nevada35035.048
 South Dakota35035.049
 Wyoming35035.050
5France34.43034.4 
6Belgium33.99033.99 
7Italy33033 
8New Zealand33033 
9Spain32.5032.5 
10Luxembourg22.887.530.38 
11Australia30030 
12United Kingdom30030 
13Mexico28028 
14Norway28028 
15Sweden28028 
16South Korea **252.527.5 
17Portugal251.526.5 
18Finland26026 
19Netherlands25.5025.5 
20Austria25025 
21Denmark25025 
22Greece25025 
23Czech Republic24024 
24Switzerland8.5014.6421.32 
25Hungary20020 
26Turkey20020 
27Poland19019 
28Slovak Republic19019 
29Iceland18018 
30Ireland12.5012.5 
OECD Overall RankCountry/StateFederal Rate AdjustedTop State Corporate Tax RateCombined Federal and State Rate (Adjusted) (a)US Rank
*Michigan, Texas and Washington have gross receipts taxes rather than traditional corporate income taxes. For comparison purposes, we converted the gross receipts taxes into an effective CIT rate. See Tax Foundation Notes (link below) for methodology.
** On June 3, 2008, South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced that it will cut the maximum corporate tax rate from 25% to 22% to stimulate economic growth. (Source: Xinhua)
(a) Combined rate adjusted for federal deduction of state taxes paid

Data compiled from: http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/22917.html
Source: OECD, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/56/33717459.xls

6 thoughts on “US Corporate Tax Rates vs. All OECD Countries”

  1. Wow!
    I am surprised. After constantly telling the Europeans the US is the place to do business and to enjoy freedom, I feel like I’ve just stepped in it.

    And this is before the Obama tax hike?
    And then there’s cap and trade for energy use that will be piled on top of that?
    Hello mass unemployment!

    Reply
  2. This chart is a bit misleading for Canada, because there are two rates:
    1. Small businesses (less than $250,000 in revenue).
    2. All other businesses.

    The small business rate is significantly lower. In addition, each province has a different income tax rate.

    In British Columbia, for example, the combined rate for small business is well under 20%.

    Reply
  3. Thanks for the additional detail “rhg.” Your information makes Canada look even better. The OCED data was averaged across all the various businesses and corporations for each country, so the lower rates for some regions and for lower income levels makes sense.

    Reply
  4. I have a question. Someone told me that US Corps have many writeoffs/loopholes so American corporations do not pay at highest rate ( or second according to your chart) Is there any truth to this?

    Reply
  5. LBB, Companies are allowed to deduct their business expenses (write-offs) from their gross revenues to determine their real earnings. That’s how every corporation, business, sole-proprietorship, and self-employed individual determines what net earnings they have earned. It would make no sense to tax them on their gross revenues.

    Often, for quite a few businesses (especially start-ups, mismanaged companies, or during bad economic times) in certain years, their expenses equal or exceed gross revenues. In those years, their real earnings are zero or below zero, therefore they do not pay any corporate tax, and they shouldn’t because they did not earn anything. It would be vastly unethical and illogical for them to pay taxes on zero real income.

    Reply

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