RATE Coalition Urges Corporate Tax Reform, Lower Rate
RATE Coalition Urges Corporate Tax Reform, Lower Rate
- AuthorsBarrington, Martin J.Hamberger, Edward R.Stephenson, RandallMcNerney, JimMerlo, Larry J.Smith, Frederick W.Mulally, AlanFalk, Thomas J.Maffei, Gregory B.Shay, MatthewBush, WesSwanson, WilliamFanning, Thomas A.Britt, Glenn A.McAdam, LowellDauman, Philippe P.Iger, Robert A.
- Institutional AuthorsReforming America's Taxes EquitablyAltria Group, Inc.Association of American RailroadsAT&T Inc.Boeing CompanyCVS CaremarkFedEx CorporationFord Motor CompanyKimberly-ClarkLiberty Media CorporationLiberty Interactive CorporationNational Retail FederationNorthrop Grumman CorporationRaytheon CompanySouthern CompanyTime Warner CableVerizon Communications Inc.ViacomWalt Disney Company
- Code Sections
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 2012-25159
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2012 TNT 236-33
December 6, 2012
The Honorable Dave Camp
Chairman
House Committee on Ways and Means
United States House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Sander Levin
Ranking Member
House Committee on Ways and Means
United States House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Max Baucus
Chairman
Senate Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Orrin Hatch
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairmen Camp and Baucus and Ranking Members Levin and Hatch:
With the 2012 elections behind us, Congress now begins the challenge of solving America's fiscal cliff and laying the groundwork for long-term economic growth and job creation that will build on the momentum of President Obama's first term.
While campaigns -- particularly during presidential years -- are often contentious, the recent elections underscored the common ground that exists between Democrats and Republicans on the need to enact comprehensive tax reforms that will put American workers and American businesses on more sound footing and the urgency to act during the lame duck session to set the stage for reforms in early 2013.
In particular, each of you, along with the presidential candidates, has identified the need to reform America's tax code in order to make it more competitive globally. Specifically, President Obama and Governor Romney each called for a significant corporate rate reduction to as low as 25 percent and a simplification of the corporate tax system.
The 28 member companies and organizations of the RATE Coalition applaud these principles and stand ready to support you during the lame duck session and throughout President Obama's second term. Our organization believes that America simply can no longer afford a 35 percent statutory corporate tax rate (39.2 percent, including the average state rates) -- the highest in the industrialized world, a full 10 percentage points above the average of our OECD competitors. Our high statutory rate and complex tax code hinder investment in the U.S., discourage job creation on our shores and slow economic growth.
Simply put, in order to expand and build upon the job creation achieved under President Obama, the U.S. must enact comprehensive corporate tax reform with a significantly lower corporate tax rate.
Our coalition understands that this is not an easy proposition, especially given the current fiscal environment. Because of this, our member companies, which span various geographic and industry sectors and represent more than 30 million U.S. jobs, understand that base-broadeners, such as eliminating tax expenditures, may be necessary to achieve the significant reduction in the statutory rate that is required for the U.S. to better compete globally.
It has been over 25 years since comprehensive tax reform was enacted. Then, like now, the U.S. faced divided government and the prospects for reform at times seemed bleak. Yet, working in a bipartisan fashion, President Reagan and Members of Congress achieved comprehensive reform and a competitive tax system that helped fuel sustained economic growth.
Since the 1986 reforms were enacted, our trading partners have raced to reform their tax codes and lower their rates to grow their own economies. It is time for the U.S. to follow our own precedent and again work to pass reforms that will encourage investment here at home. If done properly, a lower corporate tax rate will benefit all U.S. businesses, as well as U.S. workers, and will encourage investment and job creation.
As leaders on tax reform, we encourage you to use the opportunity of a lame duck session to set the framework for comprehensive reform in early 2013. We stand ready to support you in this effort and thank you for your leadership.
Together, we can work to restore America's global competitiveness and boost economic growth.
Martin J. Barrington
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
Altria Group, Inc.
Edward R. Hamberger
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Association of American Railroads
Randall Stephenson
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
AT&T Inc.
Jim McNerney
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
The Boeing Company
Larry Merlo
President and Chief Executive
Officer
CVS Caremark
Frederick W. Smith
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
FedEx Corporation
Alan Mulally
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Ford Motor Company
Thomas J. Falk
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
Kimberly-Clark
Gregory B. Maffei
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Liberty Media Corporation and
Liberty Interactive Corporation
Matthew Shay
President and Chief Executive
Officer
National Retail Federation
Wes Bush
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
and President
Northrop Grumman Corporation
William Swanson
Chairman and Chief Executive
Raytheon Company
Thomas A. Fanning
Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer
Southern Company
Glenn A. Britt
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
Time Warner Cable
Lowell McAdam
Chairman and Chief Executive
Verizon Communications Inc.
Philippe Dauman
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Viacom
Robert A. Iger
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
The Walt Disney Company
President Barack Obama
Speaker John Boehner
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Harry Reid
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
- AuthorsBarrington, Martin J.Hamberger, Edward R.Stephenson, RandallMcNerney, JimMerlo, Larry J.Smith, Frederick W.Mulally, AlanFalk, Thomas J.Maffei, Gregory B.Shay, MatthewBush, WesSwanson, WilliamFanning, Thomas A.Britt, Glenn A.McAdam, LowellDauman, Philippe P.Iger, Robert A.
- Institutional AuthorsReforming America's Taxes EquitablyAltria Group, Inc.Association of American RailroadsAT&T Inc.Boeing CompanyCVS CaremarkFedEx CorporationFord Motor CompanyKimberly-ClarkLiberty Media CorporationLiberty Interactive CorporationNational Retail FederationNorthrop Grumman CorporationRaytheon CompanySouthern CompanyTime Warner CableVerizon Communications Inc.ViacomWalt Disney Company
- Code Sections
- Subject Area/Tax Topics
- Jurisdictions
- LanguageEnglish
- Tax Analysts Document NumberDoc 2012-25159
- Tax Analysts Electronic Citation2012 TNT 236-33