Corporate Tax Rate

[GoodWitch58]

so, then, the comment that "the problem is that we have the highest corporate tax rate"... is not really accurate and people who complain about high corporate rates are no different from people who complain about high tax rates for individuals....okay.

I think our tax system is 'way too complicated, but the rates do not seem to be extraordinarily high when one factors in, as you said, Idlewind, the exemptions, etc...thanks for the info.

 

[Matt J]

This should make your head spin:

Small Business Taxes & Management

There's also this:

The Gap Between Statutory and Real Corporate Tax Rates

I can't find a bias on that group, unless you're extremely pro government.

 

[GoodWitch58]

thanks...you're right, it does make my head spin...

 

[futurebeachbum]

so, then, the comment that "the problem is that we have the highest corporate tax rate"... is not really accurate and people who complain about high corporate rates are no different from people who complain about high tax rates for individuals....okay.

I think our tax system is 'way too complicated, but the rates do not seem to be extraordinarily high when one factors in, as you said, Idlewind, the exemptions, etc...thanks for the info.

I think our problem very closely related to your 'way too complicated' observation.

I think we also don't know when to quit taxing.

To me, the traditional double taxation of corporate dividends never made sense.

Why should I pay taxes on my share of the after-tax earnings of a corporation that i own a piece of? I could see the logic if the corporation could deduct the dividends off of their taxes, but they can't (it is an after tax item.)

If the corp is in the 39% tax bracket and the consumer is in the 36% bracket then each dollar of a corporations's dividend (profit) is effectively federally taxed at 59.74%. Tack another 6-12% for state taxes and that 1$ of earnings becomes about 30? in the stockholders hand. That's ridiculous.

We've had some respite from this lately, but unless something changed and I missed it, we return to full double taxation of dividends in 2011.

 

[idlewind]

Not to mention corporate welfare, I'm betting many companies actually don't pay anything and in fact get paid to be in business.

The irony is that the tax breaks and "corporate welfare" often go to the huge multi-national corporations who are sending jobs out of the country while the small business owner who hires Americans and fuels our economy are whacked with the higher tax rate.

That said, the high corporate rates are a drag on the economy and because they impact small business harshly. So, while some who champion the issue are shilling for the huge multi-nationals, many are honestly looking out for this country and our small businesses and workers.

 

[GoodWitch58]

The irony is that the tax breaks and "corporate welfare" often go to the huge multi-national corporations who are sending jobs out of the country while the small business owner who hires Americans and fuels our economy are whacked with the higher tax rate.

That said, the high corporate rates are a drag on the economy and because they impact small business harshly. So, while some who champion the issue are shilling for the huge multi-nationals, many are honestly looking out for this country and our small businesses and workers.

it sure seems that the "many who are honestly looking out for this country and our small businesses and workers" are in the minority most of the time...it is the corporation that has the big bucks to pay the K street folks. While there is a lot of talk about the fact that small business needs a break because that is where the jobs are grown, when the rubber hits the road, it's the Haliburtons of the world that get both the tax break and the government contract. As a small business owner, I could have used some of those breaks and contracts

 

[beachFool]

The irony is that the tax breaks and "corporate welfare" often go to the huge multi-national corporations who are sending jobs out of the country while the small business owner who hires Americans and fuels our economy are whacked with the higher tax rate.

That said, the high corporate rates are a drag on the economy and because they impact small business harshly. So, while some who champion the issue are shilling for the huge multi-nationals, many are honestly looking out for this country and our small businesses and workers.

You should take up fiction, because your arguement borders on fantasy.

Most small businesses are either sole propreitors or file as subchapter S corporations or limited liability companies.

Their income flows through to the them and is taxed at their personal tax rate.

Only "C" corporations pay the corporate tax rate.

In the soon-to-be eight years I have been in business, I cannot recall working with a single C corporation.

So ALL "who champion the issue are shilling for the huge multi-nationals".

The best tonic for American small businesses is a vibriant middle class.

 

[futurebeachbum]

Many really small businesses are "S" corps. It makes it significantly easier to comingle personal expenses, etc... with corporate ones and eliminates the double taxation of dividends.

Even for S-Corps there are plenty of real taxes that are dragging hard on small businesses are imposed by the ADA, OSHA, the EPA, the PPACA, etc... The reporting/conformance burden of big government oversight ways far more heavily on them than it does on large corporations.

 

[DuneAHH]

This should make your head spin:

Small Business Taxes & Management

There's also this:

The Gap Between Statutory and Real Corporate Tax Rates

I can't find a bias on that group, unless you're extremely pro government.

Thanks for posting these links SWGB. So far I've only read the 2nd one and it's VERY VERY illuminating!

Below excerpt is particularly interesting.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 closed tens of billions of dollars in corporate loopholes, so that by 1988, the overall effective corporate tax rate for large corporations was up to 26.5 percent. That improvement occurred even though the statutory corporate tax rate was cut from 46 percent to 34 percent as part of the 1986 reforms.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts:
Did this tax reform act lead to the '92 recession... or usher in the Late 90's boom (that arguably can be said to have fertilized a current landscape of corporate fascism)?

 

[30ashopper]

Globalization insures no matter what you put the tax rate at, smart companies end up paying very little -

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes - Bloomberg