Saturday Hashtag: #CorpTaxBreaksAmerica
A $158 Trillion Crisis
Welcome to Saturday Hashtag, a weekly place for broader context.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
America’s infrastructure is in cardiac arrest.
Imagine discovering — right before your open heart surgery — that your surgeon’s medical school GPA was D+ and your emergency procedure is happening between his Uber shifts.
The majority of essential US systems are decades past their functional lifespan, with roads, bridges, and water systems failing under years of egregious neglect. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave a D+ grade to the US infrastructure system back in 2017, and while that bumped to barely a C in 2025, this is still a catastrophic crisis that can’t be ignored any longer.
Deferred Maintenance
Tom Smith, ASCE’s executive director, stated, “We have not made required investments to maintain infrastructure built more than 50 years ago.” Many critical systems, like roads, rails, and water pipes, were built mid-century and weren’t designed to endure current stress.
Right now over 40 percent of US bridges are deficient or obsolete. Current US water systems rate a C-.
Neglecting infrastructure severely impacts the economy and the public. The ASCE reports that the US loses $3.9 trillion in GDP annually due to infrastructure inefficiencies, with traffic congestion, and deteriorating roads as major contributors.
Additionally, underinvestment in water systems costs the US $1.2 trillion each year.
Security expert Dan O’Connor warns that deferred maintenance costs have hit $158 trillion — more than five times the nation’s GDP (29.168 trillion).
This backlog, combined with energy security challenges and eroded public trust due to adversarial information warfare, have undermined the US’ ability to secure and maintain critical infrastructure.
Why Is This Happening?
The nation’s crumbling infrastructure is a direct result of underfunding, exacerbated by fragmented decision-making at every level of government.
Also, this system consistently prioritizes new projects over necessary maintenance, so vital infrastructure is deteriorating, creating increasing safety, national security, and economic risks.
Beyond the recent Trump tariff drama, the fundamental issue here is decades of low corporate tax rates.
The US federal top corporate tax rate, which was 46 percent in 1985 (no corporation in history has ever paid the statutory tax rate), was slashed to 21 percent with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 under Trump. Alongside this drastic reduction, and the existing tax breaks, systemic corporate tax avoidance has also soared.
Large corporations exploit tax loopholes, draining government funds for infrastructure repairs, while profiting from the very systems they dodge funding.
Amazon paid $0 in federal income taxes despite making $20.2 billion in profits in 2020.
The company utilized a combination of tax credits and deductions, including those for stock-based compensation, depreciation on investments, and its expansion efforts.
Additionally, the company received a $129 million tax rebate due to these credits and incentives. This meant that despite substantial profits, Amazon didn’t pay any federal income taxes and actually received money back from the government.
In 2025 Apple reported paying $3.3 billion in taxes globally on $34.2 billion in profits, giving it a 9.8 percent tax rate.
Economics 101
Corporate tax avoidance is a major driver of the US infrastructure crisis, depriving the government of funds needed for repairs and maintenance.
Back in 2014, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimated that the US loses $189 billion each year due to corporate tax avoidance. According to a 2021 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report, if these companies paid their fair share, it could generate $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion a year — enough to address the $158 trillion deferred maintenance backlog.
Closing these loopholes and achieving tax fairness are crucial to relieving the tax burden on everyday Americans and addressing the urgent crisis of our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
Experts Weigh in on US Infrastructure Woes
The author writes, “America’s infrastructure is cracking, according to the latest report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. In multiple categories, from aviation to roads to energy, the country’s infrastructure is earning Ds, almost-failing grades. Virginia Tech engineering experts can break down what these failing grades mean — and what needs to happen to rebuild to make our communities safer and better prepared for the future.”
There Will Be Pain
From the Economic Policy Institute: “This report highlights that efforts to keep tax rates low for the rich and corporations will likely result in sharper trade-offs now than in past episodes of tax cuts. No matter how these tax cuts are financed this time around, there will likely be noticeable economic pain for most working families in the United States. The most damaging method of financing these continued low rates for the rich and corporations would be spending cuts. But even deficit financing — which caused no pain earlier in the 2000s when used to finance tax cuts for the rich and corporations — has the clear potential to drag on economic growth this time around.”
5 Things You Need to Know About the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card
From Autodesk News: “Last week, in Washington D.C., Autodesk sponsored the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Solutions Summit, which was timed with the release of its 2025 Infrastructure Report. The report card awarded the United States a C — the highest grade in the report’s history. Published every four years, the Report Card offers a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s infrastructure systems. And while a C may signal progress, ASCE’s message is clear: we still have a long road ahead.”
State and Local Governments Face Persistent Infrastructure Investment Challenges
The authors write, “State and local governments across the United States spend roughly half a trillion dollars annually on transportation and water infrastructure, with about one-quarter paid for through grants from the federal government. This spending includes investments in new projects as well as general upkeep and operating costs for roads, bridges, and public transit systems, as well as the development and maintenance of state and locally managed water resources. Still, experts warn that these commitments will not be enough to keep pace with the growing backlog of needed repairs, or the significant upfront investments required to modernize core public infrastructure systems.”
Continued Federal Infrastructure Investments Will Save Jobs and Grow the Economy Over the Next Decade: Economic Study
From the American Society of Civil Engineers: “Recent federal legislation addressing the nation’s rapidly accelerating infrastructure needs, including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will save American families an average of nearly $700 per year and save U.S. industries more than $1 trillion in gross output including $637 billion in savings to GDP, if these newly-established funding levels are maintained through 2033, according to a new economic study released today.”
US Infrastructure Earns C Grade, Showing Improvement but Still Facing Challenges
The author writes, “America’s infrastructure received an overall C grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) this year. But that was an improvement on the C- it received in ASCE’s previous report in 2021. Much of the difference was due to two laws passed under the Biden administration: primarily the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, which the ASCE called ‘the most comprehensive federal investment in the nation’s infrastructure in U.S. history.’”
The State of US Infrastructure in 2025 — Public Sentiment, Priorities, and the Role of Technology
The author writes, “From Western North Carolina’s aging infrastructure hindering emergency response efforts on the heels of Hurricane Helene to ongoing water crises in cities like Jackson, Mississippi, real-world examples illustrate the pressing need for infrastructure modernization.”
Fairness, Transparency, and Enforcement: FACT’s Principles for Taxing US Multinational Corporations After 2025
The author writes, “For decades, large U.S. multinational corporations have underpaid hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes on their overseas profits through complex arrangements that defy both common sense and tax enforcement efforts. The 2017 tax law took some steps in the right direction on multinational taxation, but at the same time provided new incentives for U.S. companies to offshore profits and jobs through preferential rates on overseas earnings, among other carve outs. Congress has an opportunity to raise much-needed revenue, pay for domestic programs, and level the playing field for ordinary taxpayers by eliminating these corporate offshoring incentives and taking other steps to improve tax enforcement and transparency.”
Amazon Avoids More Than $5 Billion in Corporate Income Taxes, Reports 6 Percent Tax Rate on $35 Billion of US Income
From the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: “[Amazon] reported a record $35 billion in U.S. pretax income for fiscal year 2021, a haul that is 75 percent more than its 2020 U.S. earnings of $20 billion. Just as notable, the company’s effective federal income tax rate of 6 percent means it avoided about $5.2 billion of federal income tax in 2021. If Amazon had paid the statutory 21 percent tax rate on its 2021 U.S. income without any tax breaks, that would have meant a tax bill of more than $7.3 billion. Instead, the company reports a current federal income tax expense of $2.1 billion.”
Europe’s Top Court Just Delivered Multi-Billion-Dollar Blows to Apple and Google
The author writes, “Apple has lost its fight to dodge a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) tax bill following a ruling by Europe’s top court Tuesday, which dealt a blow to the world’s most valuable company just a day after the iPhone maker unveiled a host of product upgrades to boost sales. … The decisions highlight the European Union’s tough stance on Big Tech, which in recent years has extended to enacting sweeping regulations to curb the power of major tech companies.”
What the Trump Administration Might Mean for the Future of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
From the Brookings Institution: “President Biden regularly boasted that it was his administration and lawmakers in the 117th Congress who initiated America’s ‘infrastructure decade,’ often needling former President Trump for failing to deliver on his many ‘infrastructure week’ promises. Somewhat ironically, it’s now President-elect Trump who must execute the law’s programming over its final two years. Still, the Trump administration and the new Congress will have opportunities to put their stamp on the historic law.”
Contractors Brace for Steel, Aluminum Tariff Impacts
From Construction Dive: “Tariffs on steel and aluminum could do more than curb imports — they could put the brakes on construction activity, too. President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Feb. 10 implementing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., effective March 12. The move could have a harmful effect on project momentum, market observers told Construction Dive.”
Trump’s Tariffs and the Cost of Construction
The author writes, “During a March budget meeting, Calvin Reed, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), said tariffs could impact road and bridge construction projects in the state, according to KCUR 89.3. Reed, who has worked as a bridge design engineer, bridge maintenance engineer and division of engineering and design director, said the average cost for construction is already 40% higher when compared to projections from 2020.”
