Final answer:
The statement is false; corporations do not typically report the same income for tax and accounting purposes due to differences in tax laws and accounting standards which affect the calculation of taxable income versus accounting income.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is false that corporations typically report the same income for both tax and accounting purposes. While taxable income for corporate tax is generally based on financial statement income, the calculation for tax purposes often involves different rules and adjustments in comparison to the accounting income that is reported in financial statements. Due to various tax laws and regulations, companies may have legal tax minimization strategies, which include leveraging tax deductions, credits, and differing depreciation methods that are acceptable in tax accounting but may not be reflected the same way for financial accounting purposes. Therefore, the income that companies use for tax reporting purposes can differ significantly from what is reported for accounting purposes.
Moreover, corporations are required to pay taxes on their profits, and the effective tax rate reflects the average corporate tax rate applied to the company's income after considering potential tax benefits available in a particular tax year. This effective rate can differ from the statutory tax rate due to these various adjustments.
As a background, corporate income taxes represent a significant portion of federal tax revenue, although historically, their contribution to GDP has been on a decline over the past decades.