Easier Said Than Done: The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Corporate Tax Rates

Katharine Graham Conference Center, Urban Institute
2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC

Thursday, October 8, 2009
Breakfast at 8:45 a.m.
Panel discussion from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. ET

To attend this event in Washington, D.C., register online, e-mail info@taxpolicycenter.org, or call 202-261-5554.

A live audio Webcast is available by registering here.

The tax code is a mess. Can it be transformed into a fair, stable, efficient, and dependable revenue system? Lawmakers and policy experts from across the political and philosophical spectrums will delve for answers during the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center’s special series, Tax Reform 2.0.

On October 8, the debate focuses on corporate tax reform. The United States 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. These steps, however, would tempt high-income taxpayers to shelter income and avoid taxes.

How might this behavior be prevented? What changes to individual taxes should be paired with a cut in the corporate rate? Harvard Law Professor Daniel Halperin, author of a Tax Policy Center 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