The US National Income and Product Accounts show that the effective rate of corporate profits tax (the percentage of profits actually paid to the government in taxes) crested at 33.7% in the first quarter of 2000 - the peak of the stock market and the economy in general - and fell to 20.2% in the fourth quarter of 2003, when the market was down. Much of that decline reflects explicit tax relief measures voted by Congress, as well as the perception among corporations that in the current economic and political environment they can be more aggressive in tax avoidance.
事实上，当局的反应不仅限于财政刺激。美国国民所得和产品帐显示：企业盈利税的有效税率（实际以税收形式上交政府的利润百分比）于2000年第一季度达到顶峰33.7%，当时股市和总体经济状况均处于辉煌时期，而2003年第四季度降到了20.2%，当时的股市状态十分低迷。这很大程度上是国会直接减税政策的结果，另外一个重要因素是，在目前的经济政治环境下，企业认定可以更加积极地回避税收。