Certainty in the Tax Code has become even more important than a reduction in tax rates, according to a survey of 800 CFOs and senior financial executives in the U.S.
When asked about proposed tax legislation, lack of certainty topped the list of concerns for financial executives.
Financial executives from both large and small businesses view an effective tax rate of 20 to 25 percent as necessary to make the U.S. federal corporate rate competitive with global tax rates. While small company CFOs most often choose the 20 to 25 percent range (34 percent), a slightly smaller percentage (28 percent) believe the rate needs to as low as 15 to 20 percent to make the U.S. competitive.
“For companies to plan, to invest, to create jobs and to grow, they must have certainty,” said A&M Taxand CEO Robert N. Lowe in a statement. “In fact, confidence in knowing precisely what the Tax Code will require has become more important than how much it will cost them. As our research reveals, as long as proposed changes remain up in the air, companies will be forced to continue to burn fuel operating in holding patterns rather than charting productive courses forward.”
On the issue of state competitiveness, CFOs named Texas, Florida and Nevada as the most competitive states in which to operate from a tax perspective, while California, New York and New Jersey were cited as the least competitive.
