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Study finds Corporate America avoided $60B in taxes (2010)

Tettsuo said:
No matter how you slice it, the right are still promoting the failed theory of trickle down economics. The problem is we have 40 or more years of proof that it doesn't work. This push back from actually taxing the rich at the same overall rate as the middle class is simply a reflection of a policy that does not help anyone but the mega rich and certainly doesn't help the country.
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70 years of welfare socialism is why we have the mess we have today. when politicians create a system where most people aren't paying for the increased government spending politicians use to buy votes, the spending goes through the roof
 
TurtleDude said:
70 years of welfare socialism is why we have the mess we have today. when politicians create a system where most people aren't paying for the increased government spending politicians use to buy votes, the spending goes through the roof
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Can you support that steaming pile of do dung summation?
 
1Perry said:
Let me get this right.......They avoid paying their taxes so the solution is to make them even higher? This is a problem Obama said he was going to tackle and as we see, he's done nothing of the sort.

GE avoids paying their taxes by moving over seas and the solution is to tax the successful grocery store owner at a higher rate?
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see, the trick is, we have the second highest corporate tax in the world, which forces our businesses to devote massive amounts of resources to tax avoidance strategies.

so, the solution is to jack up that rate even higher, so that they are stuck in a lose-lose scenario where they are forced to devote more resources to tax avoidance.... and we keep doing this until all the evil corporations move out of the nation all-together.

that'll teach those richy rich types!!! yeah!!! stick it to ourselves the man!!!
 
cpwill said:
see, the trick is, we have the second highest corporate tax in the world, which forces our businesses to devote massive amounts of resources to tax avoidance strategies.

so, the solution is to jack up that rate even higher, so that they are stuck in a lose-lose scenario where they are forced to devote more resources to tax avoidance.... and we keep doing this until all the evil corporations move out of the nation all-together.

that'll teach those richy rich types!!! yeah!!! stick it to ourselves the man!!!
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They could just pay their taxes.
 
cpwill said:
see, the trick is, we have the second highest corporate tax in the world, which forces our businesses to devote massive amounts of resources to tax avoidance strategies.
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I wonder how much is expended on that in a comparative analysis of other nations?
 
Nothing in the linked article showed that the companies did anything illegal. They simple used the existing tax code.
There are many private citizens who itemize to the max to reduce their tax burden. The question should be does the existing tax code for business and private citizens need to be revamped and simplified? I think it is overdue. Maybe then companies would not be inclined to set up off shore.
 
CriticalThought said:
They could just pay their taxes go out of business.
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fixed that for you.

our companies, like it or not, are in a global competition - and our tax code actively harms their position. currently foreign products sell better in the United States simply because of their tax advantage. I think on average the comparative advantage is around 17%.

for the past couple of decades, everyone else has been streamlining and lowering their business taxes. because they want business to do well. we haven't. Canada, for example, has taken to slashing it's Corporate Tax rate, which is now around 15%. They also don't tax dividends under Corporate Income, so no double-taxation. Care to guess how well Canada's recovery is doing compared to ours?

we are uncompetitive because our tax system is incredibly stupid. and this is one of the stupidest parts of it. we actively discourage businesses from setting up shop here.


Mike makes a great point - these companies didn't do anything that a middle class family that deducts their mortgage interest does.
 
cpwill said:
fixed that for you.

our companies, like it or not, are in a global competition - and our tax code actively harms their position. currently foreign products sell better in the United States simply because of their tax advantage. I think on average the comparative advantage is around 17%. .
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Or maybe like in the case case of Japanese cars they make cars people will buy.
 
winston53660 said:
I wonder how much is expended on that in a comparative analysis of other nations?
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much more. in 2010, America spent about $431 Billion in compliance costs - most of it trying to figure out and then minimize our exposure to the tax code. $431 Bn is roughly the entire economy of Taiwan. It is enough to fight Iraq, Afghanistan, and fund the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Energy, and NASA.


that's why Right, Left, and Center, everyone agrees that we need to simplify the tax code. doing so in an effective rate neutral manner would squeeze those billions back into production, where they would create massive amounts of wealth and jobs. even if we only reduced complexity by half, it's estimated that that alone would be worth half a point of GDP added each year, compounding.
 
cpwill said:
much more. in 2010, America spent about $431 Billion in compliance costs - most of it trying to figure out and then minimize our exposure to the tax code. $431 Bn is roughly the entire economy of Taiwan. It is enough to fight Iraq, Afghanistan, and fund the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Energy, and NASA.


that's why Right, Left, and Center, everyone agrees that we need to simplify the tax code. doing so in an effective rate neutral manner would squeeze those billions back into production, where they would create massive amounts of wealth and jobs. even if we only reduced complexity by half, it's estimated that that alone would be worth half a point of GDP added each year, compounding.
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I said comparative.
 
cpwill said:
see, the trick is, we have the second highest corporate tax in the world, which forces our businesses to devote massive amounts of resources to tax avoidance strategies.

so, the solution is to jack up that rate even higher, so that they are stuck in a lose-lose scenario where they are forced to devote more resources to tax avoidance.... and we keep doing this until all the evil corporations move out of the nation all-together.

that'll teach those richy rich types!!! yeah!!! stick it to ourselves the man!!!
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If you get rid of the loopholes then they don't have to spend all that money on tax avoidance.
 
Objective Voice said:
All I have to say is...:shock:

FoxNews.com:



Now, before anyone starts critisizing the above and start labelling me anti-rich, read what Ken Langone, Dir., NYSE, had to say about taxing the rich.

From MSNBC.com:
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They didn't avoid anything and they owe the federal government nothing. Our ire should not be directed in any way towards these companies. It should be directed at the government for their loose tax laws and free trade agreements our government signed.
 
j-mac said:
There is proof that something like 75% of this country get a check from the government in one form or another. Liberals 40 year "War on Poverty" is a complete failure. Since when is middle class defined upon how dependent on the government one is?


j-mac
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Can you find said proof?

And is that Federal government only?

Or is it State and Local as well?

Does it count tax refund checks?

You should ask Michele Bachmann, since she and her family probably account for about 1/3 of those checks, what with her government salary, the Medicaid checks to pray the gay away, and the farm subsidies she gets. How many check does she collect to get to that $541,000 a year that she and her family take from the government?
 
1Perry said:
Who is going to punch GE while they are in bed with the president?
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Why would a communist, socialist get in bed with big corporations?
 
TurtleDude said:
yes but many people don't understand the concept. for example not being taxed on income you earned in another jurisdiction and paid taxes to that jurisdiction is no loophole. a loophole is hedge fund managers counting their earned income as capital gains income
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American taxpayers living abroad still have to pay taxes when they earn money in other countries, you get a tax credit for what you paid a foreign country. However, you're still expected to report all your income and pay taxes on income earned in foreign countries.
 
MrVicchio said:
Raise taxes on businesses, watch the little guy suffer from higher prices, but hey, those ultra rich will suffer TOO!
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Sales taxes directly impact the price you pay. Income taxes won't necessarily affect consumer prices... supply and demand, raw material prices, material and supply costs, etc. is what cost accountants use when analyzing consumer pricing and and give consumer recommendations.
 
1Perry said:
Loopholes are where people take advantage of a law that was never intended to allow them to do what they are doing. These are not loopholes. They were written to allow them to do the very things they are doing.
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Semantics... who cares. The tax codes needs to be changed
 
Mr. Invisible said:
Well, they really don't. But they still believe that if one just works hard, they can be like the super rich and don't realize that the super rich are never going to let normal people into their club. Also, it seems that many middle class people vote with the rich against their own interests because they want to be like the rich. Since the rich is who they aspire to be, the middle class may think that if they vote for pro-rich policies, it might make it easier for them to get in the door.

(Please note, this is just my personal speculation.)
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Your post reminds me of my aunt... She married just for money and she tries to hangout and socialize with wealthy people all the time. She really thinks super rich people are better than everybody else. She loves name dropping and once bought a new car just because there was an apparent Porsche competition going on with some of her friends. Her car was the same color as her friend's Porsche but she didn't actually get a Porsche, because she can't actually afford one. On top of that, her husband is a major asshole and controlling. He is older than her, and probably going to die soon and she is already getting things in order to spend his money when he is gone. When ever I am in her presence, I always think she is bitter about the way he has treated her and things he made her give up so she could have that lifestyle.
 
jambalaya said:
They didn't avoid anything and they owe the federal government nothing. Our ire should not be directed in any way towards these companies. It should be directed at the government for their loose tax laws and free trade agreements our government signed.
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sure thing ... and lets not get all angry and surly when some inner city gang bangers carjack some suburbanite and mess em up since its really the system that made them the way they are either.



Doesn't that sound stupid?
 
cpwill said:
see, the trick is, we have the second highest corporate tax in the world, which forces our businesses to devote massive amounts of resources to tax avoidance strategies.

so, the solution is to jack up that rate even higher, so that they are stuck in a lose-lose scenario where they are forced to devote more resources to tax avoidance.... and we keep doing this until all the evil corporations move out of the nation all-together.

that'll teach those richy rich types!!! yeah!!! stick it to ourselves the man!!!
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The tax rate debate really doesn't mean anything. The real numbers to compare would be actual taxes paid by corporations. While the rates are high in America, many company's avoid paying taxes. Arguing to cut or raise taxes isn't really a conversation worth having.
 
cpwill said:
fixed that for you.

our companies, like it or not, are in a global competition - and our tax code actively harms their position. currently foreign products sell better in the United States simply because of their tax advantage. I think on average the comparative advantage is around 17%.

for the past couple of decades, everyone else has been streamlining and lowering their business taxes. because they want business to do well. we haven't. Canada, for example, has taken to slashing it's Corporate Tax rate, which is now around 15%. They also don't tax dividends under Corporate Income, so no double-taxation. Care to guess how well Canada's recovery is doing compared to ours?

we are uncompetitive because our tax system is incredibly stupid. and this is one of the stupidest parts of it. we actively discourage businesses from setting up shop here.


Mike makes a great point - these companies didn't do anything that a middle class family that deducts their mortgage interest does.
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Japan has a higher tax rate than America, and US companies pay less taxes than other industrialized countries because of all the deductions, tax shelters, and loopholes. I have been reading about this for the past 20 minutes, and I might start a post on it in a few minutes. The fact is, US corporations actually pay less taxes than most other countries but the tax rate is high. Lowering the tax rate isn't going to do anything, because more than 50 percent of corporations pay NO taxes at all.
 
cpwill said:
much more. in 2010, America spent about $431 Billion in compliance costs - most of it trying to figure out and then minimize our exposure to the tax code. $431 Bn is roughly the entire economy of Taiwan. It is enough to fight Iraq, Afghanistan, and fund the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Energy, and NASA.


that's why Right, Left, and Center, everyone agrees that we need to simplify the tax code. doing so in an effective rate neutral manner would squeeze those billions back into production, where they would create massive amounts of wealth and jobs. even if we only reduced complexity by half, it's estimated that that alone would be worth half a point of GDP added each year, compounding.
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Enough to fight Iraq with.. with hell, they paid that much money to avoid paying taxes ALTOGETHER. Imagine if they actually paid that in taxes instead, and we paid of our war debts.
 
SheWolf said:
Semantics... who cares. The tax codes needs to be changed
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Who cares? I've covered and covered why it's important. Politicians claim these are "loopholes" like they tried to make them pay their taxes but they found ways around it. It's simply not true. It's less the problems that corporations are doing what they can to save money, we all do that, do we not? Do you not take the deductions that apply to you when you can?

No, the problem is the politicians have allowed this to happen.
 
Ikari said:
If you get rid of the loopholes then they don't have to spend all that money on tax avoidance.
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that depends on the direction in which we get rid of them. if we get rid of them in a manner so as to raise effective tax rates; we are simply increasing the amount of money they will spend moving their "headquarters" and operations off-shore. and we will never see that money again - because (again, almost alone of the industrialized nations) we are stupid enough to try to tax people with they repatriate money.
 
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