UK Election Chart of the Day: Corporate Tax Rates

Since 1971, the UK corporate tax rate has declined from 40% to 19% today, reaching a peak of 52% from 1973-1982.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to drop the corporate tax rate further to 17% which was eventually postponed in order to improve public services including the NHS.

Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn has opposed the idea of tax cuts and promised to increase tax against wealthy individuals and “corporate tax-dodgers”, including those who are environmentally unfriendly.

Since 1971, on an annual basis, the Conservative government has lowered the corporate tax rate 12 times in total, including four under a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition.  Under a Labour-led government, corporate tax rates have only declined twice over the same period.

Exhibit 1 highlights the United Kingdom having the third lowest corporate tax rate among G7 countries, ahead of the United States, Japan, Italy, and France.

Exhibit 1: Corporate Tax Rate for G7 Countries