Disney CEO Blasts America’s Corporate Tax System

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The man at the helm of the Walt Disney Co. is fed up with America’s corporate tax system.

Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNN Money that the U.S. tax system is “ridiculously complex” and its corporate tax rates are so high they’re “anti-competitive.” Iger claims many companies, including Disney, are forced to pay too much money in taxes to the U.S. government. He says:

“It doesn’t mean that a company shouldn’t pay taxes, but I think the structure is off … the tax base should be lowered, and the loopholes should be closed.”

Businesses and corporations often complain that at 35 percent, the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. That’s true, but in reality, most businesses don’t pay Uncle Sam anywhere near that percentage.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that after applying credits, deductions and exemptions, corporations pay closer to 12.6 percent on average.

The GAO also recently revealed that nearly 20 percent of large American corporations that reported a profit in 2012 paid no federal income taxes.

That helps explain why business taxes, which used to make up 30 percent of federal revenue following World War II, have dwindled to about 10 percent of government revenue today.

Iger’s harsh criticism of the U.S. tax system comes just two weeks after the head of Disney blasted presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders for accusing the Walt Disney Co. of paying its workers low wages while Disney brings in record-breaking profits. According to The Wrap, Iger posted this private Facebook message on May 24:

“To Bernie Sanders: We created 11,000 new jobs at Disneyland in the past decade, and our company has created 18,000 in the US in the last five years. How many jobs have you created? What have you contributed to the US economy?”

Iger told CNN Money that Disney is a “positive for the United States and for the world.”

Two former employees have sued Disney, claiming the entertainment company laid them off, along with hundreds of other American workers, and replaced them with cheap foreign workers.

What do you think of Iger’s condemnation of the U.S. corporate tax system? Sound off below or on our Facebook page.

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