Chart of the Day: Corporate Tax Payments, 1952-2017

Since we’re talking a lot these days about the burden of corporate taxes on American businesses, maybe we should start off the conversation with something simple: a chart that shows how much corporations pay in taxes in the first place. These are not statutory rates. After all the deductions and credits and carryforwards and so forth are factored in, this is the amount they actually paid:

Republicans are right: corporations are clearly groaning under the tax burden we impose on them. Their taxes need to be cut ASAP.

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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