The pressure to cut the corporate tax in Australia has been turned up a notch or three ever since the US House of Representatives finally pushed through President Donald Trump's massive tax bill, but if tax cuts do get through here it won't make much difference, says former Reserve Bank board member John Edwards.

"I doubt company tax cuts will make any discernible difference to Australian growth or even to investment over the next four or five years. As the RBA has pointed out and as Treasury acknowledges, company tax cuts make no difference to the cost of capital or the after-tax returns for Australian-owned businesses operating in Australia," explains Edwards, who is now a Lowy Institute non-resident fellow.