President Trump has called for a big cut in the federal corporate income tax rate, and plenty of Georgia lawmakers would like to do the same to the state corporate levy.
But a report out this week by the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation said Georgia collects less from its citizens in corporate income taxes than most other states.
The Tax Foundation ranked Georgia 39th, collecting the equivalent of $98 per person in corporate income taxes in 2015. The report said six states don't charge corporate income taxes at all.
By contrast, neighboring Tennessee, which doesn't tax individuals on their earned income like Georgia and most other states, collects $212 per person in corporate income taxes, ranking it 11th highest in the country, the report said. New Hampshire, at $433 per person, ranked #1 per person. The highest corporate tax rate tops out at 12 percent in Iowa, twice Georgia's rate.
The foundation pointed out that businesses pay other taxes, such as sales and property taxes, and that on average, state corporate income taxes make up a relatively small part of their tax tab.
It is also not a huge part of the state budget in Georgia. Of about $22 billion in general fund taxes collected last year by the state, $972 million came from corporate income taxes in fiscal 2017, which ended June 30. That’s down slightly from last year and below what it was a decade ago.
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