U.S. companies face the sixth-highest effective tax rate in the world, Bloomberg reported.

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP found that the tax rate faced by U.S. companies between 2006 and 2009 was 27.7 percent, compared with an average of 19.5 percent in the rest of the world. Companies based in Japan, Morocco, Italy, Indonesia and Germany faced higher tax rates.

Excluding the United States, companies based in industrialized countries had an average tax rate of 22.6 percent.

“Our tax system has not kept pace with the rest of the world and is hurting the ability of American businesses to create jobs at home,” said John Engler, president of Business Roundtable, an association of corporate CEOs, in an interview with Bloomberg.

The study may help shape the debate over rewriting the U.S. tax code. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to lower the 35 percent corporate tax rate and remove tax credits and deductions to make up for the forgone revenue.

Business groups have also said they want the United States to switch to a territorial tax system, which would not tax U.S. companies on profits they earn in other countries.