i'm very skeptical/cynical about tax code reform in many instances, for the simple fact that pretty much every single tax reform in the last 25 years has been used by those with power/wealth/capital to influence tax reform to redistribute even more power/wealth/capital in their direction. I agree with you on the objective point, if lowering the nominal rate raises the effective rate, and hence revenue, that would be great. But a more likely scenario is that the nominal rate is lowered, and the effective rate is lowered as much or more. No doubt, corrupted by the thinking that lowering rates magically raises revenue.
The other issue is how relatively cheap it is for large cap corporations to buy influence with lawmakers. GE has been spending 18 million a year to get these tax benefits....big ****in deal to them and disgusting how poorly our political system works. This is another reason why I am for the simplified tax code and lower taxes. [rant]The idiots like me who are paying the full tax rate should be given a break and these a-holes who don't pay a dime should have to start paying up.[/rant]
Nothing. We do have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and one of the most complex corporate tax structures. What that means is that while GE gets 20% of their US earnings paid to them in corporate welfare disguised as tax benefits, midsized manufacturers that I deal with close their US shops and move to Canada, because they can't spend hundreds of billions lobbying Congress for tax breaks that benefit just them. Or more broadly:
msnbc, yes i know, interviewed two guys yesterday who wrote an article for playboy in 09 linking koch's to the tea party movement and how their article was suppressed. they were on dylan ratigan's show, it did make the new yorker in 2010
Well it all goes back to what the effective tax rate is now. It would amount to tax rates going up a pretty good amount. Yes, tax revenues would go up a lot more if you left the same marginal tax brackets that exist now. However, you would also have less friction getting tax code reform through Washington with the carrot of "lower taxes" hanging out there....in theory. But who cares...it will never happen.
We have Weslinder working in the real world giving us his real world knowledge while the lefties are attacking him.
Liberals finally got tired of saying "Bush", so now it's "Koch Brothers". Typical. It's like when the all the cool kids at school stopped wearing U2 shirts and started wearing REM shirts.
Before we get too far into the name calling....I do agree with wes here: The very high US corporate rates and the repatriation tax when offshore profits are brought back both makes these games necessary for a company to stay competitive, and, more importantly, perverts the investment of capital. Funds that should be used to expand US operations, and create US jobs are left overseas to defer the tax. Crazy. The problem is the rate -- which is way higher then comparable economies -- and the hand picking of industries and projects for special treatment (this is where the lobby guys prove their worth, the mega big corps win, and the mid and smaller guys lose). The lower effective rate is a symptom of the stated rate being out of sync on a global scale. EDIT: guess i was too late to beat the bickering .
Taxation is such a complicated event that those in the know always benefit as compared to smaller companies and wealthy (not ultra wealthy) Americans. But the whole notion of taxing a publicly traded corporation is silly as when these companies pay less in taxes, they then either pay out dividends to their shareholders (which are taxable) or their intrinsic value will rise as they've got more earnings/profits/cash on the books. That will eventually lead to capital gains on stock which are taxed as well. So if GE doesn't pay the government this money and instead pay it to shareholders in the form of dividends or capital gains, the taxes are then paid, just at another level. I'm sure the Sulzburger's who own the New York times haven't used any vehicles to pass their wealth down to the next generation or transfer their ownership shares. I'm sure they paid the entire estate tax each time someone passed on.
Nice attempt but.... Spoiler <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/03/17/funny-pictures-gifs-cat-jump-fail/?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=sharewidget"><img class="event-item-lol-image" title="Funny Pictures - Cat Jump Fail Gifs" src="http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/catscantflyp1.gif" alt="Funny Pictures - Cat Jump Fail Gifs" width="333px" height="250px" /></a></a>
But without closing the loopholes how is lowering the corporate tax rate really going to help? Also if we are talking real world experience as a small business owner and entrepreneur as I've said before corporate tax rates have little bearing on whether we expand our business or not. Frankly I would be happy to pay higher taxes right now as that would mean we are making more revenue. Lowering the marginal tax rate isn't going to mean much without the rest of the economy working in the meantime though it will save GE and other large corporations from having to spend so much to protect their money through tax loopholes.
Hey let's be libertarians. Just think how rich we would all be if we never paid any taxes and could just put all teh taxes we ever pay into the market and have it compound at ten percent tax free. Do the math!! Sweet!!!
Capital gains taxes have also been cut and if it was up to some people would be done away with. Sure they are rational actors just like GE is a rational actor. The only group here that doesn't seem to be a rational actor is the US Government.
