The Effective Tax Rate of the Largest US and EU Multinationals

Authors

Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow
Yaron Lahav, Ben Gurion University of the NegevFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2012

Abstract

The United States has the second highest statutory corporate tax rate in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) (after Japan).1 This has not always been the case. After the Tax Reform Act of 1986 lowered the U.S. rate from 46% to 34%,2 the United States had one of the lowest statutory corporate tax rates in the OECD.3 In the past twenty-five years, however, the U.S. rate has remained essentially unchanged (it was raised to 35% in 1993),4 while most other OECD countries reduced their statutory rate so that the OECD average statutory corporate tax rate is 25.1%.

Recommended Citation

Avi-Yonah, Reuven S. "The Effective Tax Rate of the Largest US and EU Multinationals." Y. Lahav, co-author. Tax L. Rev. 65, no. 3 (2012): 375-90.