KPMG has released their annual survey of corporate and indirect taxAn indirect tax is imposed on one person or group, like manufacturers, then shifted to a different payer, usually the consumer. Unlike direct taxes, indirect taxes are levied on goods and services, not individual payers, and collected by the retailer or manufacturer. Sales and Value-Added Taxes (VATs) are two examples of indirect taxes. rates:
“Our 2011 survey of the world’s corporate and indirect taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. rates continues the story told in earlier years. Corporate tax rates have been steadily falling for a decade in many countries, while value added tax and goods and services tax (VAT/GST) systems have proliferated across the globe, rising each year to higher rates and applying to more items as indirect tax systems mature. Some commentators have wondered if these dual trends were temporary anomalies that would reverse over time. Based on our reading of this year’s survey results, the chance of a return to the pre-2000 status quo is remote and the global re-balancing of corporate and indirect taxes will continue.”
The following graph illustrates just how dramatic the decline in corporate tax rates has been over the last decade, that is everywhere except the U.S.
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