Top Pro & Con Arguments

Con

Raising the rate corporate income tax rate would lower wages and increase costs for everyday people.

Using 1970-2007 data from the United States, a Tax Foundation study found that for every $1 increase in state and local corporate tax revenues, hourly wages can be expected to fall by roughly $2.50. Lower wages for workers results in a decreased ability to buy goods, which leads to lower income for businesses and a net increase in unemployment. [10] [11]

Forbes contributor Adam A. Millsap argued, “It is important to remember that corporate taxes must be paid by people. Any corporate tax increase will be paid by either shareholders/owners, employees in the form of lower wages, or customers in the form of higher prices. A study from 2016 finds that shareholders/owners bear around 40% of state corporate income taxes while employees bear 30 to 35%. So, even though corporate tax increases are not levied directly on workers, they still affect workers indirectly by lowering their wages.” [80]

Experts from the Heritage Foundation estimate between 75% and 100% of the cost of the corporate tax falls on American workers, resulting in a 1.27% (about $840 a year) reduction in income for the average worker. They cite research that estimated a loss of 159,000 jobs and a wage reduction of 1.8% if the corporate tax rate were increased to 28%. [82]

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