Showing posts with label corporate taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corporate taxes. Show all posts
Saturday, April 17, 2021
On America's Corporate Taxes
"Don't listen to Republicans in Congress when they say corporate taxes are too high.
The United States collects less corporate taxes as a percentage of economic output than any other industrialized country."
--Robert Reich @RBReich
Support the Aemrican Jobs Plan. #Taxtherich
Monday, September 11, 2017
Maybe We Don't Want That Amazon Headquarters Anyway
For a different viewpoint on that Amazon headquarters:
Amazon's New Headquarters
Should Be in Hell
"Amazon is one of America’s largest and most successful corporations. It is worth nearly $500 billion. Its stock is booming. Its CEO is one of the world’s richest men. It has the wherewithal, in other words, to do whatever it wants. If Amazon wanted to purchase five square blocks of midtown Manhattan tomorrow and build skyscrapers on it, it could, just by writing a check. More to the point, if Amazon wanted to help revitalize an American city by investing $5 billion in it to build a new headquarters there, bringing 50,000 new jobs to town, it could. Just by writing a check.
Instead, Amazon is holding a multinational audition, asking for cities to submit proposals to win the exciting opportunity to host tens of thousands of tech (people). Amazon wants to know that cities have an educated work force and good transportation networks, sure, but they don’t need the cities themselves to tell them that. What they are asking cities to submit are economic incentives. They are asking for tax breaks. They are in essence conducting a giant beauty pageant in which desperate municipal governments attempt to offer them the most lucrative possible package of public resources. This is not unlike a rich man standing up in the midst of a crowd of beggars and yelling, “Who will massage my feet for the lowest price?”
Do we really want to give away possible supporting tax money for our schools and infrastructure?
Can we afford that?
It's as I said a long time ago and have said since, our city, county and state governments need to stop letting themselves be used like this. They need to stop allowing themselves to be manipulated to give the lowest and best tax package, just to land possible new business and companies to come into their jurisdictions.
They won't stop but they should.
They won't stop but they should.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Kansas City and That Amazon Headquarters?
Fuggedaboudit.
Dear Amazon,
We Picked Your New Headquarters for You
Your dislike, if not disdain, for mass transportation alone makes sure we're not getting this, Kansas City.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Donald Trump: Truth Bender
Articles from across media in the last 24 hours.
I saw this one yesterday, with video, showing as much.
Tim Tebow Reveals Trump LIED About
Him Speaking At GOP Convention
Then there's this one from the head of the IRS. I only saw it today but it's from last March.
IRS Chief: “Trump Is A Liar,
We Audited Him
Finally, this one from today's New York Times
Anyone see a pattern here, folks?
And people think Hillary's a liar?
Additional link:
161 Silicon Valley Leaders Warn America
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Kansas' Governor Brownback Finally Gets At Least One Thing Right
I can't think of one thing--not one--Kansas Governor Sam Brownback or his Republican cohorts have gotten right in that state in the last several years.
They infamously pulled the tired, old, failed "trickle down economics" wherein taxes for the wealthy and corporations are slashed so "jobs will be created."
Brownback cuts higher ed funding
Only it never took place, as we warned, as we predicted and as is now shown by the states drained coffers. The same Republicans are taking money from children and schools and school budgets and the states pensioners, all because they went down this ignorant road.
I was sure the Guv could not and would not get anything right.
Fortunately for Kansans and now, even Missourians, he finally, finally got and did something good:
A bit from the article:
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback made a proposal Thursday to end the economic development border war with Missouri.
Brownback’s plan calls for both states to agree not to actively recruit companies in Wyandotte, Johnson, Leavenworth and Douglas counties in Kansas and Jackson, Clay, Platte, Cass and Ray counties in Missouri.
And thank goodness. This should have taken place years ago. It slashes budgets from schools and all kinds of very necessary government programs. It puts more burden for taxation on the middle and lower and working classes. And finally, it puts the companies in a kind of "catbird seat" where all they have to do is threaten to go across the state line. Then these cities and counties, as well as the state, throw themselves at their mercy and give up money they desperately need just to function.
Hopefully this goes through this time. A year and two ago, Missouri offered this but Kansas didn't take them up on it. Hopefully Missouri will now wisely reach out to this olive branch, of sorts, and stop giving away needed tax money.
Cross your fingers.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Fantastic Documentary
Fantastic, even important film to see.
"We're not accusing you of being illegal. We're accusing you of being immoral."
Hundreds of billions of dollars.
Watch for it.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Congress Needs to Undo "Offshoring" Profits
For anyone who's paid attention, we know companies can make profits here in the US, in their home country, and then legally "offshore" that profit, those profits and end up not paying taxes on them.
It's disgusting.
It's certainly unpatriotic. And deeply ungrateful, for that matter.
Sure, the leaders of the corporations give great, wide and long lip service to ours being "the greatest nation on Earth" and then they do this, offshore profits.
It's the lowest of the low.
Unfortunately, again, because of "campaign contributions", the leaders of these corporations slipped their Congressional representatives--you know, OUR representatives--a little money, sometimes as low as, say, $5000, and voila! They got this as law, making it legal.
It's insane and stupid and certainly fiscally irresponsible on everyone's part.
The subject came up again Sunday in the New York Times in a short article in the business section:
Piles of Overseas Profits Investors Can See
but Not Touch
It has become a $2 trillion question. Why don’t companies have to make clear exactly how much of their profits are generated offshore each year and not taxed in this country? Why must investors engage in jujitsu to estimate these figures and the risks associated with them?
Companies, like individuals, do everything they can to minimize their tax bills. And as long as it is legal to do so, companies that book profits in overseas jurisdictions with beneficial tax treatments are perfectly within their rights to keep those earnings out of Uncle Sam’s clutches as long as they can.
The problem is, accounting rules don’t require a company to record a deferred income tax liability on these profits, as long as it says it intends to reinvest earnings in the foreign jurisdiction where they were generated. So the money piles up, contributing mightily to reported corporate profits.
Untaxed foreign earnings disclosed by companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index last year climbed to more than $2.1 trillion, according to Jack Ciesielski, president of R.G. Associates and editor of The Analyst’s Accounting Observer.
Last year, Mr. Ciesielski said, 322 of these companies generated $182.4 billion offshore, an estimated 19 percent of their total net income.
It's not as though this would be a true increase in their taxes paid. This offshoring is just a big, ugly shell game and it cheats America, it cheats Americans.
How else do they have access to what are supposed to be the world's biggest and best markets if they don't help pay for the infrastructure we all need for it to function?
Yes, it's long since time we need to undo these offshoring tax laws.
It can't be undone soon enough.
Please contact your members of Congress. Tell them to make offshoring corporate profits illegal:
Monday, August 18, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
After Hobby Lobby, let's boycott Walgreens while we're at it
Yes sir, if this corporate tax plan goes through, boycott Walgreens:
Renouncing Corporate Citizenship
A little less than two years ago, Gregory D. Wasson, the chief executive of Walgreen, sought a series of tax breaks from Illinois, where his company is based.
“We are proud of our Illinois heritage,” he said at the time. “Just as our stores and pharmacies are health and daily living anchors for the communities we serve, we as a company are now recommitted to serving as an economic anchor for northeastern Illinois.”
The state gave Walgreen $46 million in corporate income tax credits over 10 years in exchange for a pledge to create 500 jobs and invest in upgrading its offices. The state also provided $625,000 in training money and $875,000 in other tax incentives.
Mr. Wasson’s actions, however, could soon run counter to his words. The same chief executive who said he was so “proud of our Illinois heritage” is now considering moving the company’s headquarters to Switzerland as part of a merger with Alliance Boots, a European drugstore chain.
Why? To lower Walgreen’s tax bill even further.
Alarmingly, dozens of large United States companies are contemplating the increasingly popular tax-skirting tactic known as an inversion. Under the strategy, companies merge with foreign rivals in countries with lower tax rates and then reincorporate there while still enjoying the benefits of doing a large part of their business in the United States.
And besides being deeply unpatriotic and just blatantly wrong, here's what else Walgreens gets from America:
In Walgreen’s case, an inversion would be an affront to United States taxpayers. The company, which also owns the Duane Reade chain in New York, reaps almost a quarter of its $72 billion in revenue directly from the government; it received $16.7 billion from Medicare and Medicaid last year.
And besides being deeply unpatriotic and just blatantly wrong, here's what else Walgreens gets from America:
In Walgreen’s case, an inversion would be an affront to United States taxpayers. The company, which also owns the Duane Reade chain in New York, reaps almost a quarter of its $72 billion in revenue directly from the government; it received $16.7 billion from Medicare and Medicaid last year.
This is obscene. We need to stop this nonsense.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Something legal -- that shouldn't be
A study was just released proving still more that letting the wealthy and corporations offshore profits, first, shouldn't even ever been made legal and that it should, now, be reversed and made against our tax laws:
Exhaustive Study Finds Global Elite Hiding Up to $32 Trillion
A new report reveals how wealthy individuals and their families have between $21 and $32 trillion of hidden financial assets around the world in what are known as offshore accounts or tax havens. The actual sums could be higher because the study only deals with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts. The inquiry was commissioned by the Tax Justice Network and is being touted as the most comprehensive report ever on the "offshore economy." It also finds that private banks are deeply involved in running offshore havens, with UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs handling the most assets.
And the crazy thing is, of course, that it is legal, and that we allow this, but to go back to the beginning of it all, what's really insane is that, because of "campaign contributions" to their--our--legislators, the laws were written for the wealthy in the first place, so they could get away with this kind of rather treasonous obscenity in the first place.
And sure, the wealthy will always have the laws written for themselves first but let's not let it be THIS easy for them. Let's at least see to it this is rescinded and made illegal. Let's at least do that. Then, after that, let's take away tax cuts for offshoring jobs in America.
It's difficult to believe we even have to say this.
Link:s
Sunday, September 8, 2013
You wouldn't think this would even be possible
Not only is it possible, however, it is law.
The corporations and wealthy paid our representatives to create these laws so it's possible for these things to take place and, conversely, we now need them to make laws making the following illegal:
1) End tax credits for US companies that send American jobs overseas.
This one is difficult for any but the truly cynical to believe. You wouldn't think our representatives could be paid enough to create a law making tax deductions and credits for taking American jobs offshore, would you? Yet that is, in fact, the law of the land.
To make matters worse, the Democrats have brought up bills in Congress, in the past, to overturn this BUT THE REPUBLICANS VOTED IT DOWN.
And we're tolerating this nonsense?
2) End tax deferral of the foreign earnings of US corporations. They must be paid as earned.
Same thing here. You wouldn't even think this is a law, let alone that we can't get it overturned.
3) End tax deductions for foreign investment by American companies. Our tax dollars can not be used to create jobs overseas.
Again, ditto.
(Shaking head in frustration).
4) Require all government agencies and the US military to purchase products and supplies made in the US
This requires action by Congress. Unfortunately, they're still getting "campaign contributions" from the very people who wanted these laws in the first place.
Contact your representatives in Congress today - http://www.google.com/
Friday, May 24, 2013
It's not just Apple--or GE--not paying taxes
This past week, Apple, Inc. took a beating in Washington and nationally for manipulating very legal tax laws to avoid paying any taxes.
We knew this of GE, General Electric, years ago and we've known other companies also do it but I think it's important to get out there more names of firms who do the same. Herewith, then, is a list of ten of the worst, biggest examples:
It gets worse, too, to an extent. There are companies who game our tax system so totally, WE'RE PAYING THEM TO BE IN BUSINESS, as a nation, you and me (click on picture for easier reading):
It's important to know.
I say again, companies should at least pay a minimum--say a 10% minimum, by law--for access to our markets and so we can keep up our infrastructure, whether they're from here in the US or elsewhere.
Link: It's Not Just One Bad 'Apple'
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Kansas poor and their schools take another beating
Not just Kansas schools take a financial blow but the poorest of Kansas schools, at that:
From the article:
School districts across the state received word Thursday of significant cuts to federal funding reserved for the highest-poverty schools.
What stuns me, besides the cuts in funding, is how this is even legal.
Forget that it's immoral and nearly unconscionable, how is this legal given that "separate but equal" was ruled patently unconstitutional, so many years ago?
In this case I'm not talking about schools for blacks vs. schools for whites, as the original Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education court ruling came out, I'm talking about schools for wealthy vs. schools for the poor. That's what this seems to be also, further setting up, just as the school vouchers would, if we implement them.
You can't have one set of schools well-funded and the others stripped of that same equal level of funding. That's not just immoral, it's obscene and it should absolutely be illegal.
It just keeps getting worse over there in Kansas. First the governor gives tax breaks to the corporations and wealthy, then he and too many Republicans in Topeka propose raising the sales tax to make up for lost revenue which would nothing but hurt the poor and middle class, now this.
No one's going to WANT to be in Kansas, Dorothy.
And in the meantime, Representatives are trying to add in money for golf tournaments for themselves but no new, additional money for schools, yes they are:
I'm trying to decide if it's ignorance, stupidity or greed that's the source here. Regardless, chutzpah is definitely involved.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
First GE, now Apple Computer: Big profits, zero income tax paid
First it was GE, General Electric Company, famously not paying any US taxes:
General Electric Avoids Taxes
It's insane, it's unfair, it's irresponsible on their part and it's even downright, truly immoral, even if it is legal, since they buy this kind of legislation from our government representatives with their "campaign contributions", which also need to be outlawed but that's a story for another day.
How do you take profits from and access the markets of a nation and then not pay anything back into it, so, well, let's see, that same nation can have good to great infrastructure like roads and schools and highways and sewage treatment, etc., etc. SO YOU CAN KEEP MAKING A PROFIT?
Forget about patriotism for a minute, how about paying some taxes so the whole thing functions and continues to function and it stays afloat?
Now, today, Apple, Inc., is shown to be doing the same thing:
Corporations Are Stealing Billions in Tax Breaks ...
Apple CEO Tim Cook appears today before a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that's charging Apple with using had a web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. Apple has $102 billion in offshore accounts and shifted billions of dollars in profits out of the U.S. into affiliates based in Ireland where it negotiated a tax rate of less than 2 percent, according to the panel’s report. But Cook won't apologize today. Quite the contrary. In prepared remarks already distributed to the media, he and Apple have the chutzpah to recommend lower corporate tax rates on foreign earnings, in order to encourage companies to bring cash back to the U.S. and not “undermine U.S. competitiveness.”
This is exactly the same argument being used by Google, Amazon, GE, and every other major corporation that's hiding its income abroad. It's the same argument they're using here in the UK. They couldn't care less about U.S. competitiveness, or British competitiveness, or the competitiveness of any other nation. Their only interest is shrinking their corporate taxes, reducing their costs, and making the most money they possibly can. I don't blame them: That's what corporations are supposed to do. But to dress this up as anything else is a sham."
--Robert Reich, Economist, Columnist for the NY Times, Professor, Writer, etc.
What I think we need to do, as a nation, and I've said this before, is to, first, make offshoring profits illegal because as crazy and destructive as all this is, it's quite legal in our country to do this, to offshore profits, however unpatriotic and even, possibly, I think it can be argued, treasonous. Then, second, put into place a minimum, say, 10% base tax all companies and corporations and even the wealthy must pay for both having access to our markets but also so we can help pay for the infrastructure that makes their company's profits possible in the first place.
This whole magical, wonderful thing we call the United States of America can't operate, obviously, without good roads and highways and sewage treatment plants and airports and schools, etc., as we all know.
It's not much to ask and it's the only way we can keep this whole thing running.
Oh, and again, it should and would also be patriotic.
At least, with all this sudden pressure on Apple lately, it apparently brought out the following result, just announced within the last few hours:
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the only way, the only way companies and executives of them are going to be brought around to any good change for this country. That is, we have to keep the pressure on them to do the right thing, the moral thing and not just what is legal.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
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