NRF CEO in Sacramento Bee: Lowering corporate taxes would benefit workers

WASHINGTON, September 14, 2017 – The National Retail Federation today urged congressional action on corporate tax reform, saying in an op-ed published in newspapers across the country that the average corporate worker earns more than $4,000 in lower wages each year as the result of high taxes.

“An employee of an American corporation currently forfeits thousands of dollars each year because of the high corporate tax rate,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay wrote.

“Tax reform would put money back in their pockets and help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” Shay said. “Long-overdue corporate tax reform would mean real change that would last for decades. Even with a busy fall schedule, lawmakers must seize this rare opportunity to push for a tax system that would increase wages, drive job creation and provide meaningful changes for the average American.”

"An employee of an American corporation currently forfeits thousands of dollars each year because of the high corporate tax rate."

Matthew Shay
NRF President and CEO

The op-ed cites an analysis conducted by NRF that found the average annual wages of employees at C corporations, which include most major companies, are as much as $4,690 lower because of the nation’s high corporate tax rate. The op-ed was published today in the Sacramento Bee and other McClatchy newspapers.

The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world and NRF has led the retail industry in seeking comprehensive tax reform. Retail benefits from few of the tax breaks that lower tax bills for other industries, and most retail companies pay at or close to the full 35 percent.

About NRF
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.