US tax reform promises big income boost for German carmakers

New law slashes corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%

BERLIN: German carmakers Daimler and BMW said on Friday that a new sweeping US tax reform, giving major breaks to corporations, will add hundreds of millions of euros to their 2017 earnings.

The controversial tax overhaul signed into law on Friday by billionaire President Donald Trump will slash the US corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

As a result, Daimler projected its net income to grow by around 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) this year.

“The reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate... results in an income tax benefit increasing the net income of the group for the year 2017 by approximately 1.7 billion euros,” the company announced in a statement.

BMW also said it expected the tax changes to have a “positive impact” on its 2017 net profit, boosting it by between 950 million and 1.55 billion euros.

Trump this week celebrated his first major legislative victory since taking office a year ago as Congress passed the $1.5 trillion overhaul, set to impact every corner of the economy.

Making good on a vow to push through the tax cuts before Christmas, the 71-year-old endorsed the bill Friday shortly before departing for a year-end break at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, pulling forward a formal signing initially planned for January.

Opposition Democrats have branded the tax plan a giveaway to the wealthiest, which risks blowing a hole in the national debt.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2017.

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