ACT History
ACT is a policy-focused coalition compromised of tax directors from 48 of the nation’s leading companies. Formed in 2013 at the request of the Obama administration, ACT was tasked with providing its practical perspective on corporate tax reform and promoting a competitive U.S. tax system that encourages job growth, stimulates investment, and sustains rising incomes for American households.
The coalition represents companies across a wide range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, technology, biopharmaceutical, financial services, energy, and more. ACT’s members collectively employ over 4 million Americans, produce more than $1.5 trillion of goods and services, support more than 100,000 U.S. suppliers with $265 billion in annual purchases, and conduct more than $64 billion in research and development each year.
ACT members use their hands-on experience from working with tax systems around the world to advocate for a globally competitive U.S. tax code in line with other advanced economies—a foundational principle which underpins all of ACT’s work and advocacy efforts.
This foundational principle is reflected in the 2017 Tax Cuts And Jobs Act, which broadened the tax base, lowered the corporate tax rate, adopted a minimum tax on foreign income, and eliminated a tax on the repatriation of foreign earnings – measures that improved U.S. competitiveness and helped make the U.S. economy resilient in the face of significant turmoil and disruption from the COVID crisis and related economic challenges.
Today, ACT has identified several areas that need to be prioritized in tax legislation to maintain U.S. competitiveness. They include introducing incentives for innovation that are comparable to competitor economies, maintaining a combined federal and state corporate tax rate that keeps the U.S. in line with the OECD average, and ensuring that the widespread implementation of a new global minimum tax does not uniquely disadvantage U.S. businesses or limit the ability of Congress to use tax policy to achieve important domestic policy priorities.
ACT’s goal is to provide non-ideological expertise and real-world experience on the U.S. tax code that will drive U.S. competitiveness and economic growth.