The United States pays higher corporate taxes than most other G20 countries, but it's not as high as it looks at first glance. Companies often pay much lower than the rate that is written into law after taking into account deductions, credits and other provisions of the tax code.

Why this matters: One of the GOP's biggest arguments for lowering the corporate tax rate — now likely to go down from 35 to 21 percent in the final tax bill that's being written now — is that it will make the U.S. more competitive internationally. While economists disagree on whether the bill would effectively do this, it is true that rates in the U.S. are comparatively higher than in other countries.