CFOs Call For Lower US Corporate Tax Rates

Edward Rapp, group president and chief financial officer of Caterpillar, spoke in Washington, D.C., this week at a gathering of reporters and leading CFOs. The head of the equipment and financial services giant argued that a lower corporate tax rate is needed for the U.S. to remain competitive in foreign markets.

Rapp also argued that a territorial system of taxation on overseas profits and incentives for developing intellectual property can help make U.S. firms more competitive.

The current U.S. corporate tax rate tops out at 35 percent - one of the highest in the world - but Rapp suggested that a 25 percent corporate rate, with 20 percent or 21 percent from federal taxes and the rest from state revenues, could improve U.S. firms' global competitive standing.

Kurt Kuehn, chief financial officer of UPS, went so far as to argue tax rates should trump other issues such as repatriation of offshore profits.

"We see repatriation as a secondary issue" Kuehn said, adding that ideas such as temporary tax holidays will only serve as a "band-aid" to the larger issues of securing adequate capital to meet global investment and expansion objectives.