More profits, lower taxes: The biggest companies in the world enjoyed a median effective tax rate of just 17% in 2020, less than half of what they paid than in 1990

More profits, lower taxes: The biggest companies in the world enjoyed a median effective tax rate of just 17% in 2020, less than half of what they paid than in 1990

The biggest companies in the world haven't felt the sting of the pandemic quite like everyone else. New data from a shows that the 50 biggest companies on the planet increased their value by $4.5 trillion in 2020 alone-and that's thanks, at least in part, to historically low tax rates. The top 50 companies by market capitalization paid a median effective tax rate of just 17.4% in 2020, less than half of what they paid in 1990. On top of that, according to the Bloomberg Economics Study, profit margins soared over the same period from 6.9% to 18.2%. The largest companies in the world are paying lower taxes and netting more profits than in decades past, and that's leading them to hold an unprecedented position in the global economy. In fact, the top 50 firms by market cap now make up nearly 30% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2010, that figure was just over 10%, and in 1990, it was less than 5%. In a , Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there's been a "30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates" and called for "a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations." The