Corporate Income Tax = $3,190 Per Household

Washington, DC- Today, The Tax Foundation started running a 30 second television ad (click the arrow above) and a 60 second radio ad in the Washington, D.C. market to educate Americans about the burden that American families bear from the corporate income tax.

Most people think that corporate income taxes are paid by wealthy, anonymous companies," said Scott Hodge, President of the Tax Foundation. "But as economists have been teaching for years, people bear the burden of corporate taxes, not companies."

Research from the Congressional Budget Office shows that in a global economy where capital is highly mobile but workers can't easily move abroad, workers end up bearing the brunt of corporate taxes. In 2007, Economist William Randolph found that 70% of corporate tax burdens fall on employees through lower wages and productivity, while the remaining 30% fall on company shareholders. A recent Tax Foundation study shows the federal corporate income tax alone collected $370 billion in 2007. That's an average household burden of $3,190 per year - more than the average household spends on restaurant food, gasoline or home electricity in a year.

"Typically, the argument for cutting the U.S. corporate tax rate centers on improving the ability of American companies to compete globally," said Hodge. "While true, those arguments overlook the fact that individual households bear the corporate tax burden, and their pocketbooks will benefit most from reform."