Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who Has The Highest Tax Rate of Them All?

In 2011, new corporate tax rates will take effect in Japan, lowering the corporate tax rate from 40.69% to 35.64%.

By virtue of this fact, the developed nation with the highest corporate tax rate will be...

The United States of America.

Feel free to read that last line again if you will, but I can assure you that you read it correctly.

Corporations in the U.S. are taxed at both the federal and state level. Considering the 35% federal tax rate, and using an average 4.2% state tax rate, corporations in the U.S. are subject to a total tax rate of 39.2%, the highest in the developed world.

As a means of comparison, here are the top 10 countries, in terms of combined corporate tax rates, according to CNBC:

Canada: 29.52%
New Zealand: 30.00%
Spain: 30.00%
Australia: 30.00%
Mexico: 30.00%
Germany: 30.18%
Belgium: 33.99%
France: 34.43%
Japan (beginning in 2011): 35.64%
United States: 39.21%

I've long felt that we needed to reduce the corporate tax rate, in order to stimulate our economy (and to anger liberals, which is an important end unto itself), and our nation's dubious status as the developed nation with the highest combined corporate tax rate does nothing to squelch that opinion.

Beyond that, however, it's simply embarrassing.

On a serious note, Japan's relinquishing to the U.S. of the hardly-coveted #1 corporate tax rate status could very well be a blessing in disguise to U.S. companies, and by extension, our economy as a whole.

The situation has gotten a reasonable amount of press, and I can imagine a lower corporate tax rate becoming a significant plank in the Republican legislative platform over the next two years.

For now, at least, we can hang our heads in shame, as our nation continues to build up its socialist credentials.