Florida Senate - 2012 SM 1038 By Senator Evers 2-00972A-12 20121038__ 1 Senate Memorial 2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 3 urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate. 4 5 WHEREAS, the combined United States average federal-state 6 corporate income tax rate is more than 39 percent, according to 7 the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), 8 meaning the United States imposes the second-highest overall 9 statutory corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, much 10 higher than the OECD average of 25 percent, and 11 WHEREAS, effective United States corporate tax rates are 12 out of step with the rest of the world, with studies estimating 13 the United States tax is between 4 and 17 percentage points 14 higher than the averages of other countries, according to a Tax 15 Foundation survey, and 16 WHEREAS, the federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent 17 undermines the ability of every state in the nation to compete 18 against lower-tax nations such as Canada, China, Great Britain, 19 Ireland, Korea, and Singapore, and 20 WHEREAS, 75 nations have cut their corporate taxes since 21 2007, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to 22 attract new business investment and jobs, and 23 WHEREAS, corporate taxes have been identified by the OECD 24 as the most harmful tax for long-term economic growth by 25 reducing investment, entrepreneurship, productivity, and wages, 26 and 27 WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau, 28 federal corporate income tax collections in 2008 amounted to 29 over $2,000 for every American household, a tax that is borne by 30 every American in the form of lower wages, higher prices, or 31 lower dividends, and 32 WHEREAS, while many federal officials have identified 33 corporate tax competitiveness as a serious problem, the Federal 34 Government, as of yet, has no official policy regarding United 35 States tax competitiveness, NOW, THEREFORE, 36 37 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 38 39 That the Florida Legislature urges the United States 40 Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate. 41 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 42 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the 43 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 44 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 45 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.