Countries have recognized the impact that high corporate tax rates have on business investment decisions

See Corporate Tax Rates around the World, 2019 by Elke Asen of The Tax Foundation. Excerpts:

"Key Findings

• In general, large industrialized nations tend to have higher statutory corporate income tax rates than developing countries.
• The worldwide average statutory corporate income tax rate, measured across 176 jurisdictions, is 24.18 percent. When weighted by GDP, the average statutory rate is 26.30 percent.
• Europe has the lowest regional average rate, at 20.27 percent (25.13 percent when weighted by GDP). Conversely, Africa has the highest regional average statutory rate, at 28.45 percent (28.15 percent weighted by GDP).
• The average top corporate rate among EU countries is 21.77 percent, 23.59 percent in OECD countries, and 27.65 percent in the G7.
• The worldwide average statutory corporate tax rate has consistently decreased since 1980, with the largest decline occurring in the early 2000s.
• The average statutory corporate tax rate has declined in every region since 1980.

Introduction

In 1980, corporate tax rates around the world averaged 40.38 percent, and 46.67 percent when weighted by GDP.[1] Since then countries have recognized the impact that high corporate tax rates have on business investment decisions so that in 2019, the average is now 24.18 percent, and 26.30 when weighted by GDP, for 176 separate tax jurisdictions.
Declines have been seen in every major region of the world including in the largest economies. The 2017 tax reform in the United States brought the statutory corporate income tax rate from among the highest in the world closer to the middle of the distribution. Whereas in 2017 the United States had the fourth highest corporate income tax rate in the world,[3] it now ranks towards the middle of the countries and tax jurisdictions surveyed.
European countries tend to have lower corporate income tax rates than countries in other regions, and many developing countries have corporate income tax rates that are above the worldwide average.
Today, most countries have corporate tax rates below 30 percent.

The Highest and Lowest Corporate Tax Rates in the World[4]

The majority of the 218 separate jurisdictions surveyed for the year 2019 have corporate tax rates below 25 percent and 111 have tax rates between 20 and 30 percent. The average tax rate among the 218 jurisdictions is 22.79 percent.[5] The United States has the 84^th highest corporate tax rate with a combined statutory rate of 25.89 percent.

The 20 countries with the highest statutory corporate income tax rates span every region, albeit unequally. While nine of the top 20 countries are in Africa, Europe appears only twice and Asia once. Of the remaining jurisdictions, one is in Oceania, and eight are in the Americas.[6]

The only countries with large economies in the top 20 are France (34.43 percent) and Brazil (34 percent)."

"On the other end of the spectrum, the 20 countries with the lowest non-zero statutory corporate tax rates all charge rates lower than 15 percent. Eleven countries have statutory rates of 10 percent, six being small European nations (Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Gibraltar, Kosovo, and Macedonia). The only two major industrialized nations[7] represented among the bottom 20 countries are Ireland and Hungary. Ireland is known for its low 12.5 percent rate, which has been in place since 2003. Hungary reduced its corporate income tax rate from 19 to 9 percent in 2017."

"Conclusion

Worldwide and regional average top corporate tax rates have declined over the last decades, with most countries following the trend. Of 138 jurisdictions around the world, only six have increased their corporate income tax rates between 2000 and 2019, while nineteen have not changed their rates, and 113 have decreased them. The trend would seem to be continuing, as several countries are planning to reduce their corporate tax rates in the coming years."