Easier Said Than Done: The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Corporate Tax Rates
Thursday, October 8, 2009
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. ET

Audio Recording

Nearly everyone agrees that our tax code is a mess. How can we transform it into a system that is fair, stable, and efficient, while ensuring that it delivers the revenue needed in the future? Join the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center for a series of provocative forums on Tax Reform 2.0 featuring lawmakers and policy experts from across the political spectrum.

On October 8, the series focuses on corporate tax reform. The U.S. imposes a higher statutory tax rate on corporations than any of our trading partners except Japan. To level the playing field, President Obama has suggested cutting the corporate rate while raising the top rate for individuals. In combination, these steps would create opportunities for high-income taxpayers to shelter income and avoid taxes.

How might we prevent this behavior? And what tax reforms should we pair with a cut in the corporate rate? Harvard Law Professor Daniel Halperin, author of a TPC working paper, Mitigating the Potential Inequity of Reducing Corporate Tax Rates, will join other experts for a lively discussion of the consequences of corporate tax reform.

• Panelists:
• Rosanne Altshuler, Senior Fellow and Codirector, Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute (moderator)
• Daniel Halperin, Stanley S. Surrey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
• Peter Merrill, Principal and Director of National Economics & Statistics, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
• Ronald Pearlman, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law School
• Michael Schler, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP

Light breakfast will be provided at 8:45 a.m. The event begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.

Next in the series:

• Representative Paul Ryan (R - WI), ranking Budget member of the House Ways and Means Committee will discuss his tax reform plan on Thursday, October 29 from 9 am to 10:30 am.