Corporate Income Tax Receipts Stay Constant Even as Tax Rates Declined

The top corporate tax rate was reduced sharply under President Reagan — from 46 percent to 34 percent. Yet today, with a combined federal and state tax rate of 35 percent, America has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world.

Top Federal Corporate Income Tax Rates and Receipts, 1960–2008

Source: Rates from U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Tax Foundation, Facts and Figures on Government Finance, 1988-89 Edition (Washington, DC, 1988); Commerce Clearing House, 1993 U.S. Master Tax Guide (Chicago, 1993); and SOI Corporation Tax Returns, various years; Receipts from FY 2009 Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, Table 2.3.