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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For 50 years, Mother Jones has been publishing investigative journalism that doesn’t hold back. We’re independent from corporations and uninfluenced by those in power. Our commitment is solely to the truth.

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Our nonprofit newsroom is funded by donors from every state in the union—blue, red, and purple, all part of a community of readers who care about the future of our democracy.

This week is our spring membership drive, and we need 1,000 new donations to fund the urgent investigations already in our pipeline. Be the reason these stories get told. Make a donation to fund independent journalism, and help us reach our goal this week.

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