A look at corporate tax changes: What does history show?

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Tax legislation passed by the Senate and the House would change corporate taxes, impacting businesses, individuals, and the economy. What could change under the legislation? Compare past tax changes to economic performance throughout history and decide for yourself.

Changing the corporate tax rate affects the amount corporations must pay in taxes and what they get to keep as profit. Generally, they can do a few things with their profits. One option is to invest…

Domestic corporate profits + private fixed investment

Another option is to pay their employees higher wages or hire more people. Profit could also be passed through to investors in the form of capital gains earnings.

GDP, employment, stocks, and the deficit could be affected if corporations spend their profits, investors spend their returns, and employees spend their increased earnings.