A large share of corporations—even highly profitable ones—pay minimal income taxes: Share of corporations (%) paying zero corporate income taxes in surveyed states (multiyear averages)
| All corporations | All corporations with taxable income > $0 | Corporations with taxable income > $1 billion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut, 2016–2018 | 69% | 43% | 12% |
| Colorado, 2017–2019 | 71% | 20% | 20% |
| Florida, 2016–2019 | 92% | 72% | 20% |
| Illinois, 2015–2018 | 69% | 15% | 17% |
| Michigan, 2016–2019 | 63% | 27% | 22% |
| Tennessee, 2016–2019 | 62% | 38% | 27% |
| Wisconsin, 2015–2019 | 63% | 37% | 20% |
Notes: We use “tax on corporate income” as a generic descriptor. Depending on the state, this tax may be called the corporate income tax, business tax, excise tax, or franchise tax. In Connecticut, all corporations pay a minimum tax of $250, according to the Connecticut Department of Revenue. Based on the data we received, Connecticut corporations with over $1 billion in federal taxable income paid more than this minimum—$4,000 on average. We are still seeking clarification. Data received from Connecticut combined certain categories based on disclosure requirements for taxpayer counts of three or less. As such we calculated the percentage based on the highest and lowest potential count of corporations paying the minimum tax for each tax year.
Source: Information obtained from queries made by state legislators to their respective revenue departments. The specific information requests and responses can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/statecorporatetax/home.
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