The rich get richer or a boon to businesses and consumers?
Democrats and Republicans have different ideas of what Trump’s overhauled tax plan, which took effect in December 2017, means for the U.S. economy.
So far, the promised boost appears to be coming up short.
Ahead of the 2020 election, where the tax code will surely be a buzzy topic, WalletHub crunched the numbers to see what lowering the federal corporate income tax rate has meant for the most prominent U.S. companies.
This chart sums up the findings (click here for the interactive version):
The overall tax rate companies in the S&P 100 stock index paid in 2018 came in at 21%, and that’s some 15 percentage points lower than in 2017. Companies also paid about 7% lower rates in U.S. taxes than they did internationally.
Specifically, technology giants like Facebook FB, -0.56%, Apple AAPL, -0.01% and Cisco CSCO, +0.68% are still paying more than 15 percentage points less than they do overseas, a trend that goes back all the way to 2013, WalletHub found.
Analysis conducted by the Center for American Progress shows that the promised upside of the plan has yet to be fully realized by consumers, though corporate tax revenue has been dramatically reduced, dropping by more than 40% — the biggest year-over-year decline outside of a recession.
The U.S. economy did show a surge of 3% annualized growth after the tax cuts took effect, but it only grew at 1.9% annual rate in the third quarter this year, which is mostly in line with growth going back to 2011. Trump at the time of signing the cuts, said they would lift economic growth between 3% and 6%.
What does it all mean for those with money in the market?
“Long-term investors should continue to invest and not worry,” Randy Beavers, a professor of finance at Seattle Pacific University, told WalletHub, “whereas short-term investors or those preparing to exit the market for retirement may want to speak with their financial planners about exiting early or finding alternative investments to ride out the rocky months ahead.”
