Personal taxes have climbed since the global financial crisis as governments have scrambled to fill the holes in their coffers. But despite the endless fuss over corporate tax avoidance, multinational companies have been paying less tax in the past few years, notes Rochelle Toplensky in the Financial Times — continuing a trend evident since the turn of the century.
According to accountancy firm KPMG, corporation tax has fallen by an average of 5% in the developed world since 2008.
But this only explains around half the decline in effective corporate tax rates (the proportion of profits firms expect to pay, according to their accounts). It seems “multinationals are still outpacing attempts to tighten tax collection”.