The Morning Newsletter-Corporate Taxes Are Wealth Taxes

And their decline has led to a steep drop in tax rates for the affluent.

By David Leonhardt
April 8, 2021, 6:43 a.m. ET

*_{Frederick Smith, the chief executive of FedEx, in 2016. FedEx paid no federal corporate income taxes last year.Credit…Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images}*

The main cause of the radical decline in tax rates for very wealthy Americans over the past 75 years isn’t the one that many people would guess. It’s not about lower income taxes (though they certainly play a role), and it’s not about lower estate taxes (though they matter too).

The biggest tax boon for the wealthy has been the sharp fall in the corporate tax rate.

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