In early April 2004, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that over 60 percent of all American corporations paid no federal taxes at all from 1996 through 2000. In addition, the GAO found that corporate tax payments as a percent of federal revenue have reached the lowest level since 1983 and now stand second only to rates paid in 1934. In 1960, corporations paid 24% of all federal taxes. In the 1970's, that share fell to 15%. As recently as 1996, it was 12%. When NOW reported on this issue in 2002, corporate taxes made up only about 8% of U.S. revenues, in 2004, that's down again to 7.4%. Those figures come from the Clinton era, before additional corporate tax cuts and tax benefits were put in place.

Citizens for Tax Justice has compiled the U.S. profits, federal income taxes and taxes paid for ten major American corporations. Click on the image below to compare the personal tax rate for an American family of four and corporate tax rates of some of the country's largest companies for 1999-2000.