Statutory corporate tax rates are stabilizing worldwide after a lengthy period of falling rates, according to new OECD data.
The 2024 edition of OECD Corporate Tax Statistics shows that average statutory corporate income tax rates have remained steady at 21.1 percent over the past three years. This follows a two-decade period that saw average statutory corporate income tax rates decline from 28 percent in 2000 to 21.1 percent in 2021.
Anticipation of the new global minimum tax, agreed by more than 140 members of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, may have contributed to the recent stabilization, according to the report.
More than 35 jurisdictions are currently implementing, or plan to implement, the 15 percent minimum corporate effective tax rate with effect from 2024, reducing competitive pressures on statutory corporate income tax rates.
The latest edition of Corporate Tax Statistics also points to a stabilization of certain tax incentives designed to attract mobile intangible assets and their related income.
The report contains new data on the effective tax rates available to MNEs on their intangible income through tax incentives, such as intellectual property regimes.
The data shows that average effective tax rates including these incentives have stayed relatively constant over the period from 2019 to 2023, compared to a decline of almost 13 percentage points from 2000 to 2019.
The report provides new data on more than 160 countries and jurisdictions worldwide, including statutory and effective tax rates, withholding taxes and tax treaties, corporate tax revenues and detailed information on MNEs’ international activities, among other things.