UPS has commended the US Administration and Congressional leaders on the release of a unified framework which details a plan for tax reform that will stimulate the economy, create jobs and develop a globally competitive tax structure.
In a statement, underlining the company's strong support for the tax reform outlined in the proposal, chairman and CEO, David Abney, said:
“Tax reform is one of the single most important things this Congress and Administration can do for American competitiveness. The principles are simple, reduce rates, eliminate loopholes, and simplify the code and you will create opportunity for growth.”
He added: “The tax system has not been updated in more than 30 years – it’s time to tackle that challenge.”
The statement called on Congress “to seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the US tax code, stimulate economic growth and make American businesses of all sizes more competitive.”
Last month, UPS yesterday staged a high-profile event to push its case for tax reform in the US – which it believes will benefit jobs, inviting one of the US' senior lawmakers to speak before workers at the company's Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky where it employs more than 20,000 people.
Sharing a platform with UPS' chairman and CEO, David Abney, US House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee chairman, Kevin Brady, addressed UPS staff and local job creators on what the Republican party was doing to deliver comprehensive tax reform in 2017.
“We’re proposing to lower rates dramatically for every size business, whether you’re a UPS or you’re a ‘mom and pop’ that you see, that you stop by on your way home after work today,” he said.
Abney, quoted in the US media, said cutting the corporate tax rate from close to 40%, among the highest in the world, down to the twenties will make UPS more competitive worldwide.
“Anytime we grow jobs in the United States, when it comes to our air network, it's going to create jobs here in Louisville because this is where we connect not only the US, but we connect the world from this facility,” he added.
Earlier last month, in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal, Abney, and Fred Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corporation, issued a joint call for the US Congress and President Trump’s Administration to get to work on policy reforms to keep America globally competitive which included lowering corporate taxes. They argued that principles of simple, fair and progressive taxation were vital.
“If you lower rates, eliminate loopholes, and otherwise simplify the code, you create opportunity for growth. Studies show that permanently lowering the corporate rate by even 10 percentage points would increase GDP by one percent to two percent without lowering tax revenue. That means our government could still fund programs critical to success while allowing individuals and businesses to invest more for growth,” they said.
