NYT Editiorial: No Replacement for Corporate Taxes

[Scuba]

The corporate "don't tax us" arguments dismanteled, one by one ...


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/opinion/no-replacement-for-corporate-taxes.html?_r=0

In response to the recent Senate hearing on tax avoidance at Apple, some pundits have argued that the best solution is to abolish the corporate income tax altogether. Their contention is that multinational corporations — which hold trillions of dollars in mostly untaxed profits offshore — are so complex and so expert at avoidance that even trying to tax them is pointless. It would be better, they say, to quit trying and to raise needed tax revenue in other ways. This would be a completely wrong approach.

Eliminating the corporate tax would not fix the broken tax system. The corporate share of the overall tax burden has declined as the labor force’s share has increased. At the same time, the nation has gone deeper into debt to provide the social and economic foundation on which corporate success is built — including security, education, infrastructure, scientific research, health care, environmental protection and legal, financial and regulatory systems.

Ending the corporate tax would only make that bad situation worse. Abolishing the corporate income tax would be a huge tax cut for the wealthy, which would ultimately result in even heavier burdens on everyone else or a government that is far too small to meet the nation’s needs. The corporate income tax — which is projected to raise $4.8 trillion in the next 10 years even with all the avoidance that is going on — falls most heavily on corporate shareholders, who tend to be wealthy.

Claims by business executives and anti-tax crusaders that corporate taxes mostly hurt workers because they cause companies to reduce wages and raise prices are overstated. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, more than half the burden of the corporate tax falls on the top 1 percent of tax filers, with the top 20 percent bearing nearly 80 percent of the burden.

[FreakinDJ]

1. Another "No Shit Sherlock" moment

Not mention the REAL Reason for Corporate Taxes is to "Guide the Economy" in a direction that is good for the United States on the Citizens of the United States. Some thing the Tea Farty and Corporate America desperately wishes us to "Unlearn" from our High School Civics lessons

[DetlefK]

2. Regulating money is pointless. Regulating illegal guns is pointless. Regulating wombs has a point.

Regulating pollution is pointless because the rapture is near.
Regulating homos has a point because your kids could be gay when the rapture comes.

Regulating the content of science-classes is pointless, because kids should learn all sides of an issue.
Regulating that a mop-sink will never ever be used by muslims to wash their feet has a point.

[noiretextatique]

3. +1

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. How do you enslave 300,000,000 free people? n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. If CNBC wants it, then by gum, Obama is expected to give it.

[yodermon]

6. I'd be OK with abolishing corporate taxes if the top marginal individual rate was 91%

Set at say, 10 million+
80% for 5 million+
50% for 1 million +

This would prompt the Owners to keep the money in the company.

OR how about, drastically reduce corporate taxes for companies that pay their employees more as a fraction of their CEO's pay.

etc.
lots of outside-the-box possibilities.

[joeglow3]

7. Your sentiment makes sense

91% is a bit higher than I would go, but I agree.

Our companies are at a disadvantage since we have the highest statutory tax rate in the world and are one of a few nations that taxes worldwide income. At least a portion of this burden is borne by the lower class (some portion of prices we pay have corporate income taxes imbedded in it), we have more difficulty competing worldwide (costing jobs) and money is trapped overseas (as companies won't ship the cash to the US).

Instead, look at an excise tax on all dividends - essentially, any money leaving the hands of companies into shareholder's has the equivalent of the corporate tax rate imbedded in the dividend. This ensures the taxes are borne by those who own the companies (most likely, wealthy) and brings money back to the US for investment.