A 15-Percent Corporate Tax Rate Could Create an Enormous Tax Shelter
Combining a corporate tax rate of 15 percent with a top individual rate of 37 percent(another likely Trump proposal) would create a powerful incentive for wealthy people to squirrel away a large portion of their assets in a corporation. They’d pay 15 percent tax on profits versus 20 percent on capital gains and dividends or 37 percent on interest, rents, or royalties. If they hold their corporation until they die, they could transfer their assets tax-free to heirs, who could continue to accumulate lightly-taxed profits by simply keeping the assets in the corporation.