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A file arrived from the company’s accountant, and out of idle curiosity (a trait of mine) I took a look. It was a gleeful letter to the publisher, bragging that once again the man had managed to file taxes for the corporation showing it owed no income taxes. I was a single mom of three, making about $15,000 a year (this was in the mid-’70s, in a mini-recession), and having federal, state and city income taxes taken out of my paycheck. I realized in a flash that I was paying for the things my company was not: I was paying for the daily sweeping of the street in front of our building, for the policeman who walked the beat, for the garbage pickup, for the fireman who would rush to our help if needed. In a wider net, I was paying for schools, public transportation, national defense. What was I NOT paying for? And this was at a time when Ronald Reagan canceled school breakfasts for kindergarten and first grade, a boon that had allowed me to leave my youngest child at the classroom door and ride my bicycle down through Central Park to work. The accountant added that in spite of not showing a profit, the company managed to pay a bonus of $25,000 to a few executives, to compensate them for the generally poor benefits the company offered. If the minimum-pay young kitchen workers in the food department developed health problems, too bad. According to the GAO report released last Tuesday, one in four large U.S. corporations paid no taxes on revenue of $1.1 trillion in 2005. The tax code allows corporations to claim a long list of deductions, write-offs, operating losses and tax credits. And some politicians are calling for lowering the corporate tax rate! Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said, “It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hardworking Americans who pay their fair share of taxes.” Amen. www.marthamoffett.com Martha Moffett is a freelance writer living inSouth Florida.
August Adams is a CPA and holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is an activist striving to create a fair and just world for all.
Absolutely correct And it's very difficult to read the US Federal budget, but if you dig, you can find that the lions share of the revenue comes from personal taxes and if you break it down, that the wealthy pay a disproportionate share of that. Corporations have been raiding the National treasury for years - and now their fleeing the country - if we move to tax them - they'll just leave the country. We need a solution that forces corporations to pay to play. If they want to do business in America - there have to be certain rules they abide with. But right now, they write the rules and the People are paying for their free lunch. by
August Adams (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 469 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 8:41:13 PM
August Adams is a CPA and holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is an activist striving to create a fair and just world for all.
Correction I meant to say that the wealthy pay a disproportionately lower share of the total tax burden. The financial burden of our tax system falls on the middle and working class disproportionately. It's amazing they can get away with it. by
August Adams (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 469 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 1:44:26 PM
I am a retired MBA, former corporate ideologue, current curmudgeon and third party advocate. My interests include investigating and analyzing polity, economic and social inequities, and why egalitarianism has been removed from political discussion or thought.
To add to your argument www.alternet.com The Great Corporate Tax Heist By Robert L. Borosage, Huffington Post. Posted August 14, 2008. Some of the "corporate comments" from the above source follow: "McCain calls for cutting the top corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and allowing corporations to write off investments in the first year. Combined, the Tax Policy Center wonks cost these at more than $1.3 trillion over 10 years. Len Burman of the Tax Policy Center estimates that in total, McCain would cut corporate revenues by about 50 percent from current levels. According to a study by the Treasury Department, from 2000 to 2006, an average of 2.2 percent of GDP was collected in corporate taxes. This compares to an average of 3.4 percent in other industrial countries. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that, under current law, corporate revenues will decline to 1.9 percent of GDP by 2017." It angers me that candidates and the press always cite the corporate tax rate of 35 percent and never mention that you cannot find a corporation that does. Congress is bought and paid for by corporate interests. So much so that it is surprising that some of them are paying some tax some of the time. One time when GE paid no tax that year, one of their executives was quoted as saying, "I refuse to be criticized for fulfilling the will of Congress." There are more than 35,000 lobbyists in washington more than 65 for each of our congressmen and almost all of them represent corporations directly and indirectly. Their purpose is to facilitate corporate feeding at the public trough while adding as little to it as possible. by
Harold Hellickson (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 52 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 11:13:47 PM
Want to make a corporation more powerful? Raise their taxes. No matter what the corporate income tax rate, corporations will in effect pay no income tax. The reason is because businesses operate on a margin. If the tax rate is raised, they simply raise the price of their goods and services to make up the difference. Raising taxes on corporations simply causes consumers to pay more for their products, and it is the consumer who ends up paying the tax, not the corporation. Not only do consumers pay the taxes, but in the process corporations become more powerful. They become more powerful because when they charge more for their products to cover the higher taxes, they then control a larger percentage of the available money supply; and consumers a smaller percentage. Corporations will make the same profit margin by percentage no matter what the tax rate is. So, when they pay higher taxes, their prices are higher as well. With higher prices, come higher gross revenues, which translates to higher net profit. Look at the oil companies. Do you think raising taxes on them will lower the price of gasoline? Of course not. It will raise the price of gasoline. The consumer will pay the extra money for the gas to cover the higher taxes. At the same time, the oil companies will have even higher profits because of the inflated price of oil. If you really want to help consumers, taxes on corporation should be 0%. The business owners would pay their taxes on their personal incomes, and on dividends, etc. But the corporate entity should pay 0. This would be the most effective and economical senerio for the consumer, and would also give the corporation the least amount of power. Not only would prices come down for all goods and services, but domestic businesses would become more competitive in the world market, and foreign companies would want to be located here. This would have the effect of bolstering our economy and providing high paying quality jobs in unprecedented numbers. I realise that this does not fit in with the "soak the rich" mentality of many in our society, but it is the truth; and the truth is a constant. It cannot be changed by rhetoric. by
steve keller (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 14 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 12:19:03 AM
You've convinced me Yes, corporations do use public services, but they don't print money. The taxes they pay still come out of the prices they charge for their goods and services. Raise their taxes, and the prices for goods and services raise along with them. There is no way around this. Although, calling my point of view "silly" is such a powerful arguement, I can't help but be converted to your way of thinking. The total state and federal corporate tax rate in the US stands at 39%. This is the second highest in the world. Why can't we be number 1? In fact, we should confiscate ALL corporate earnings. Then there will be no incentive for any American to start a business at all. That way enterprising, immoral businessmen and women will be unable to get rich on the backs of hapless labor. When private business is gone, labor will be much happier, even though they no longer have jobs. They will be happier because there will be less income disparity between them and the business owner, so they will no longer have anything to be jealous of. Everyone will be poor. The government can then step in and run all commerce in this country. Finally all goods and services would provide the multitude of choices and quality of service that we have come to expect from the VA, the DMV, Congress, the Post Office, and FEMA. Thank you for my re-education and pointing out the errors in my thinking. by
steve keller (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 14 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 3:23:48 PM
Darren Wolfe is the former Eastern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Venezuela for seven years, including the first year of Chavez' rule. His articles have appeared in OpEdNews.com, the Libertarian Penn, and the Nolanchart.com. News services such as the New York Post.com and Rational Review have published links to his work.
Rob, you sound like a broken record There's ample historical precedent for libertarian ideas, (A history of success, BTW.) you just need to open your eyes to it & stop buying into the left wing mythology. See here for a presentation of the private provision of usually public goods & services. Progressive ideas, when implemented, have brought us nothing but racism, poverty, oppression, & war. I know you'll say that's not what progressives intended (except racism which was part of the early progressives program). You have to rememeber that once you empower the governement it quickly gets out of control. by
Darren Wolfe (7 articles, 201 quicklinks, 106 diaries, 780 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 4:38:59 PM
untested Rob, you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! Untested.... Instead, our nation employs the same FAILED POLICIES while some people blame "the free market" for the failures of the failed policies that have been continually enacted! The question is a simple one... by
steve scheetz (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 693 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 9:46:43 AM
Martha Moffett is a freelance writer living inSouth Florida.
Corporate income tax I see you want to leave me holding the bag--or, like Hercules, holding up the world on my shoulders. But why not change the culture? I pay my fair share of the taxes that support and defend the nation, why don't corporations (and every other entity) pay their fair share? Your rationale--that corporations will simply charge more for their products -- doesn't SOLVE anything. You might as well say: Raise Martha's taxes, and she'll work a double shift and send her children to work at Denny's as soon as they're old enough. That way they'll increase the tax rolls AND be able to buy more stuff. Your suggestion that corporations should pay 0% income tax is wrong. If corporations want to be treated like individuals (as they say they do, grabbing for the legal rights of individuals), then they must bear the responsibilities of individuals as well. I'm not saying "Soak the rich." I'm saying the burden is and should be on all of us. Martha Moffett by
Martha Moffett (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 6 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 10:03:34 AM
Well-traveled, middle-aged, mechanical engineer.
Hello!!! Corporations have never paid any taxes. It is impossible for a corporation to pay even a penny of tax. Any money that a corporation passes through to the US treasury is really paid by the consumers of the corporation's products or services. by
M. Bennett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 85 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 4:09:51 PM
Well-traveled, middle-aged, mechanical engineer.
Hello!!! Corporations have never paid any taxes. It is impossible for a corporation to pay even a penny of tax. Any money that a corporation passes through to the US treasury is really paid by the consumers of the corporation's products or services. by
M. Bennett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 85 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 4:14:29 PM
Darren Wolfe is the former Eastern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Venezuela for seven years, including the first year of Chavez' rule. His articles have appeared in OpEdNews.com, the Libertarian Penn, and the Nolanchart.com. News services such as the New York Post.com and Rational Review have published links to his work.
On the subject of taxes Nobody should pay them. Rather than repeat myself, please see these diary entries on the subject: by
Darren Wolfe (7 articles, 201 quicklinks, 106 diaries, 780 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 4:40:38 PM
Martha Moffett is a freelance writer living inSouth Florida.
Speak to this point Hey, guys, speak to this point: Corporations insist (in law) on being regarded as individuals. I, an individual, pay taxes to Do My Part. The Corporation, as an individual, must step up and Do Its Part. Is the Corporation ready to give up its role as an individual? by
Martha Moffett (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 6 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 5:29:04 PM
Darren Wolfe is the former Eastern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. He grew up in Puerto Rico and lived in Venezuela for seven years, including the first year of Chavez' rule. His articles have appeared in OpEdNews.com, the Libertarian Penn, and the Nolanchart.com. News services such as the New York Post.com and Rational Review have published links to his work.
Guys? I guess you mean me. I can't speak for corporations, though they probably like their present status. IMHO, they should lose that status. Corporations are creations of & extensions of the state & should be abolished. by
Darren Wolfe (7 articles, 201 quicklinks, 106 diaries, 780 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 9:31:45 PM
Individuals? I'm not sure what you mean when you say corporations insist on being treated like individuals. Corporations have never been treated as individuals. They are only legal entities that were created to make doing business easier. Without corporations, it would be difficult for everyday people to invest in companies. With corporations, you can simpy buy shares, making it easier for the company to raise capital, and making it easier for small investors to benefit from successful businesses. Also, without corporations there would be no oversite over the accounting of any business. Private companies do not have to open their books to Federal regulators to make sure they didn't overstate earnings, etc. They are accountable only to themselves. Corporations are accountable to securities regulation, thereby making investing in them safer. Corporations also shield shareholder's personal assets from liability lawsuits. Imagine if the tobacco companies were private and not public. Say you owned 2 shares of a tobacco company. Every time they are sued by a smoker, the lawyer could come after your personal assets (like your house) just because you are a listed owner. Thankfully, because they are corporations, only the companies assets can be seized. You may lose the value of your shares, but nothing more. Corporations are not individual citizens. They do noy have rights. Since corporations do not have the right to vote, they should not pay taxes. What's that old saying attributed to those "silly" founding fathers? "No taxation without representation" by
steve keller (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 14 comments)
on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:46:39 PM
Well-traveled, middle-aged, mechanical engineer.
Stop the violations Well, since corporations cannot pay taxes, only consumer can, perhaps individuals should also be free to pass on their tax bills to their employers. It sounds like a viscous circle. by
M. Bennett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 85 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 6:50:24 AM
OK...I'm an independent childbirth educator, and I'm an advocate of independent midwifery, which currently is a felony in NYS because, as the judge who wrote the majority opinion in the challenge to the PMPA wrote (and I paraphrase): "it didn't matter that the scientific evidence is in favor of independent midwifery, because there was enough legal precedent for squashing it that the legislature might be justified in not knowing it was wrong; and it wasn't for the judge to set the record straigh...
Income taxes, originally Well, NOT taxing corportions at all might be a very good idea, it seems! However, going back to the original problem, which was, taxing poor people to death: if my grasp of the facts are correct, when Income Tax was instituted in (1913, was it?), the ONLY people who paid it were, basically, millionaires. Now it seems that millionaires are about the only people who do NOT pay it. Over the decades, something slipped! Also, government spending, if I'm not mistaken, grew considerably. Personally, I don't think anyone who earns less than at least, say, $150,000/year should have to pay income tax. by
Jill Herendeen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 92 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 4:50:13 PM
OK...I'm an independent childbirth educator, and I'm an advocate of independent midwifery, which currently is a felony in NYS because, as the judge who wrote the majority opinion in the challenge to the PMPA wrote (and I paraphrase): "it didn't matter that the scientific evidence is in favor of independent midwifery, because there was enough legal precedent for squashing it that the legislature might be justified in not knowing it was wrong; and it wasn't for the judge to set the record straigh...
Tax collection by the gov't... However, while some gov't spending is necessary, and even desireable, that doesn't mean that our current level of government spending is desireable or necessary. The government really COULD SPEND A LOT LESS...but it appears that both the Republicans and the Democrats have been doing their best to out-spend each other as insanely as possible in the last several decades, and few besides Ron Paul seem to have any qualms about this. by
Jill Herendeen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 92 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 9:49:34 PM
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