Well yeah, no shiat. I didn't know they were even pretending about it.

In before "Corporations don't pay taxes."

So he is pro flat tax??

Well, that's clearly the proof they need a tax cut!

But they *SAY* they do, so its' gotta be true.

DamnYankees: But they *SAY* they do, so its' gotta be true.

They've got a "gut feeling"... That trumps any facts, you pinko anti-capitalist.

"DuPont and Monsanto both produce chemicals. But over the 2008-10 period, Monsanto paid 22 percent of its profits in U.S. corporate income taxes, while DuPont actually paid a negative tax rate of -3.4 percent. Department store chain Macy's paid a three-year rate of 12.1 percent, while competing chain Nordstrom's paid 37.1 percent. In computer technology, Hewlett-Packard paid 3.7 of its three-year U.S. profits in federal income taxes, while Texas Instruments paid 33.5 percent. FedEx paid 0.9 percent over three years, while its competitor United Parcel Service paid 24.1 percent."

so do you use companies which are bad citizens or good citizens?
cant wait until companies start using their tax rate PAID in advertisements!!

werekoala: I've never understood why we don't base the corporate tax rate, at least in part, on the size of the company. Bigger companies can afford to pay more, and it encourages more smaller players in the marketplace, driving innovation and consumer choice. Oh, and it discourages "too big to fail".

THIS is why you are not in charge.

A company COULD lose money, break even, or make money each year.
Size doesnt matter.

the problem is all in tax breaks, loopholes and other games.
until we get rid of corporate welfare, we are never gonna fix this problem.

It's not about hating success. Get it right. And maybe get back with the program...

hubiestubert: It's not about hating success. Get it right. And maybe get back with the program..

I guess he thought that money was the root of all evil...

My plan:
1) Remove the 'dividend tax rate' for income from dividends, and tax as normal income.
2) Corporations pay 0 taxes on income, if that income is distributed to share holders as dividend payments within a month*

*timeframe subject to change

impaler: My plan:
1) Remove the 'dividend tax rate' for income from dividends, and tax as normal income.
2) Corporations pay 0 taxes on income, if that income is distributed to share holders as dividend payments within a month*

*timeframe subject to change

That didn't come out right. I don't mean that the time-frame subject to change, but rather the I'm willing to rethink what the timeframe is. Weekly (probably too short), quarterly (reasonable, considering profit reports are done quarterly), annually (probably too long).

The Stealth Hippopotamus: hubiestubert: It's not about hating success. Get it right. And maybe get back with the program..

I guess he thought that money was the root of all evil...



"It is difficult for me to understand why there should be this belief in Wall Street that I am a wild-eyed revolutionist. I cannot condone wrong, but I certainly do not intend to do aught save what is beneficial to the man of means who acts squarely and fairly. The big Wall Street financiers of the type of which I am speaking, the men who are our embittered opponents tonight, own railroads, oil, mines, whatever it may be, and also own newspapers and magazines, and have owned legislatures, governors, and judges. Now our warfare, fundamentally, is to break up the alliance between crooked business and crooked politics. We would be the very first to insist that the corporation should have the rights to which it is entitled; it must have its rights. But it is not entitled to a vote and it is not entitled to own any man in public life. The richest man in the world is entitled to every right that the poor man has, but to no more. Now, I will fight for the rights of the richest man in the country just as quick as I will for the rights of the poorest man, provided they are the same rights." (At Elmira, N. Y., October 14, 1910.) Mem. Ed. XIX, 42; Nat. Ed. XVII, 33 - Theodore Roosevelt

Yes, kids. The OWS protestors are essentially inspired by Old Skool Republicans...

And fought by radicals who pretend. Good luck with that.

impaler: impaler: My plan:
1) Remove the 'dividend tax rate' for income from dividends, and tax as normal income.
2) Corporations pay 0 taxes on income, if that income is distributed to share holders as dividend payments within a month*

*timeframe subject to change

That didn't come out right. I don't mean that the time-frame subject to change, but rather the I'm willing to rethink what the timeframe is. Weekly (probably too short), quarterly (reasonable, considering profit reports are done quarterly), annually (probably too long).

but there is value in companies saving money and investing that money in growth.

what is CLEAR, is that the whole system is currently completely broken

hubiestubert: Yes, kids. The OWS protestors are essentially inspired by Old Skool Republicans...

And fought by radicals who pretend. Good luck with that.

the party names change and the parties change.
the history of the GOP is quite entertaining when you look at how it has been radically different over the centuries.

namatad: but there is value in companies saving money and investing that money in growth.

True, but then that saved money is taxed as corporate income, as it is now. Also, 'reinvestment' can be things that reduce the 'profit' (think, wages to new employees), and are effectively a tax deduction.

Check out the actual text of the report; it's actually a bit worse than the Salon writer indicates. My favorite part: "...instead of paying $55 billion in income taxes as the 35 percent corporate tax rate seems to require, these companies generated so many excess tax breaks that they reported negative taxes (often receiving outright tax rebate checks from the U.S. Treasury), totaling $21.8 billion."

It's one thing to generate a theoretical negative tax rate. It's another thing to get a farking rebate check.

The_Six_Fingered_Man: So what happens when you pay in estimated taxes above and beyond your actual final tax number? Oh that's right, you get a check from the US Treasury. Rebate = refund in this context.

But I'm sure you feel the same way when individuals do it, right?

Actually, yes. If Jack the Computer Software Engineer earned $50k a year and owed 15% (I'm just making this up), but instead of paying $7.5k he exploited every loophole and bogus tax write-off he could think of, and then a few more, and ended up getting $4k back in a check from the IRS, I would happily call Jack the Computer Software Engineer an asshole.

Because you know what? Eventually, Jack would get audited, and the IRS would find that he never reported some income, or that he didn't really donate three old cars to charity, or whatever, and he would be in a world of shiat and Jill would leave him and he'd file for bankruptcy. Repercussions will never fall on these companies because they are playing by the rules: and that's what pisses me off so much. The rules are so utterly farked that all of this is actually above-board.

Lernaeus: ... and who writes tax policy?

Corrupt politicians.

So let's protest ... corporations?


Guess who is paying millions of dollars in lobbying to get favorable tax policies for corporations and lining the campaign coffers of politicians...