WethePeopleUS
Member
I hear many people say that we need to tax the richer people in America more. Others say we need to raise taxes on the middle class (as if they aren’t taxed enough). So what we have now, is people either calling for more taxes, or new taxes, when what we really need to do, is to start making multinational corporations actually pay their taxes. I would be willing to bet that if we started closing some of the federal tax loopholes, as well as enforcing our corporate tax rate we could start doing a little better. I do not believe for a second that America is broke, nor do I think that we are going broke; we just have one of the most screwed up tax systems in the world. The corporate tax in America is the highest in the world: 35%. However, it is important to point out that the effective tax rate is about half that (effective tax rate being how much a corporation actually pays in taxes). I believe if we got our multinational corporations to actually start paying their federal taxes, we could take some of the pressure off 90% of Americans. Since 1961, the total percentage of US Federal Income Tax collected from corporations has been cut in half. Lobbyists have tried to make sure that all of the tax laws bend in their favor. In 2010, $3.9 billion was paid to Congress by lobbyists. That ought to buy some kind of loyalty. Can mom and pop stores afford that kind of representation? My guess would be no.
Let’s take a look at some of the major US corporations, and see just how much Federal Income Taxes they paid:
From 2005-2010 General Electric profited $26 billion, $5.1 billion in 2010, paid $0 in federal income tax (and in 2010, GE spent $39 million lobbying Congress)
Bank of America in 2010 profited $4.4 billion, their bailout was- $1 trillion, federal income tax paid= $0
Exxon Mobile in 2009 profited $19 billion, federal income tax paid= $0
Chevron in 2009 profited $10 billion, federal income tax paid= $0
Citigroup in 2010 had $4 billion in profits, their bailout was $2.5 trillion, and federal income tax paid= $0
Boeing in 2010 made $4.3 billion in profits, and federal income tax paid= -0.1%
Ford motor company in 2010 saw $6.6 billion in profits, federal income tax paid= -1.7%
By the 4th Quarter of 2010, corporate profits reached $1.68 trillion. Yet, somehow, they get away with paying less Federal Income tax than most of us here (at least I know I paid more federal taxes than them, and I make a tiny fraction of the profits they pull in).
Transfer pricing is a huge problem. That is keeping a majority of your earnings, if not all, in offshore offices so that they don’t get taxed by the US government. Places like the Ugland House in the Cayman Islands, home to 18,857 registered corporations. There is no economic activity going on there, just post office boxes. Corporations claim this to be an office, so they can keep money in the Caymans. It is estimated that $70 billion a year at least, is being lost to offshore countries. There are now 50 countries designated as offshore tax havens.
People like Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) Chairman Senate Finance Committee, was one of the four democrats who voted to continue subsidies for companies who outsourced jobs. His campaign costs from 2005-2010 were $13.6 million. His top corporate donors were: Merck, Goldman Sachs, AIG, Aetna, Amgen Inc. Is it really a mystery why the corporations are getting so much leeway on the tax laws?
Then major corporations will say that the corporate tax is too high, and that if it were lower, then they would have no problem keeping the money in the country. However, when they were given a break, it was disastrous. Under the Bush Administration H.R. 4520 American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 was passed, which gave corporations a 1 year amnesty on foreign capital. Instead of paying the 35% corporate tax, they only had to pay 5%. This did not boost jobs when these companies brought all of their money back to the states, it had the adverse effect. Thousands of jobs were cut, in an interest to make even more money. Since we tried giving the corporations a “break” on their taxes, and it had a horrible effect on the economy, that was is obviously not the correct approach. From 2001-2011, $2.4 trillion has been lost in federal revenue due to the Bush tax cuts. Should we allow this to continue?
Yet, instead of fixing the already existing problem, the government wants to cut spending in other programs like:
Low income home energy assistance program- $390 million cut
State and local law enforcement assistance-$414 million cut
Community health care centers- $600 million cut
Defense department environmental cleanup- $638 million cut
Federal emergency management agency (FEMA)- $954 million cut
Clean drinking water funds- $997 million cut
Of course these are just some examples, but I think I have made my point. It is time to stand up and demand that these huge corporations actually pay the Federal Income tax. I do, and a whole lot of other people do as well. Small businesses have to pay, so why should multinational corporations continuously be allowed to be exempt from paying? I am not asking for higher taxes, nor more taxes to be implemented. I am simply asking for those who do not pay anything at all, to step up and start contributing to the pot. And for those corporations who are masters at transfer pricing, there needs to be penalties put in place for taking advantage of the system
We all agree that something has to change, but why should it fall on the middle classes shoulders, and the poor of our country? Shouldn’t it be about time that the upper 10% actually start paying their taxes?
Let’s take a look at some of the major US corporations, and see just how much Federal Income Taxes they paid:
From 2005-2010 General Electric profited $26 billion, $5.1 billion in 2010, paid $0 in federal income tax (and in 2010, GE spent $39 million lobbying Congress)
Bank of America in 2010 profited $4.4 billion, their bailout was- $1 trillion, federal income tax paid= $0
Exxon Mobile in 2009 profited $19 billion, federal income tax paid= $0
Chevron in 2009 profited $10 billion, federal income tax paid= $0
Citigroup in 2010 had $4 billion in profits, their bailout was $2.5 trillion, and federal income tax paid= $0
Boeing in 2010 made $4.3 billion in profits, and federal income tax paid= -0.1%
Ford motor company in 2010 saw $6.6 billion in profits, federal income tax paid= -1.7%
By the 4th Quarter of 2010, corporate profits reached $1.68 trillion. Yet, somehow, they get away with paying less Federal Income tax than most of us here (at least I know I paid more federal taxes than them, and I make a tiny fraction of the profits they pull in).
Transfer pricing is a huge problem. That is keeping a majority of your earnings, if not all, in offshore offices so that they don’t get taxed by the US government. Places like the Ugland House in the Cayman Islands, home to 18,857 registered corporations. There is no economic activity going on there, just post office boxes. Corporations claim this to be an office, so they can keep money in the Caymans. It is estimated that $70 billion a year at least, is being lost to offshore countries. There are now 50 countries designated as offshore tax havens.
People like Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) Chairman Senate Finance Committee, was one of the four democrats who voted to continue subsidies for companies who outsourced jobs. His campaign costs from 2005-2010 were $13.6 million. His top corporate donors were: Merck, Goldman Sachs, AIG, Aetna, Amgen Inc. Is it really a mystery why the corporations are getting so much leeway on the tax laws?
Then major corporations will say that the corporate tax is too high, and that if it were lower, then they would have no problem keeping the money in the country. However, when they were given a break, it was disastrous. Under the Bush Administration H.R. 4520 American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 was passed, which gave corporations a 1 year amnesty on foreign capital. Instead of paying the 35% corporate tax, they only had to pay 5%. This did not boost jobs when these companies brought all of their money back to the states, it had the adverse effect. Thousands of jobs were cut, in an interest to make even more money. Since we tried giving the corporations a “break” on their taxes, and it had a horrible effect on the economy, that was is obviously not the correct approach. From 2001-2011, $2.4 trillion has been lost in federal revenue due to the Bush tax cuts. Should we allow this to continue?
Yet, instead of fixing the already existing problem, the government wants to cut spending in other programs like:
Low income home energy assistance program- $390 million cut
State and local law enforcement assistance-$414 million cut
Community health care centers- $600 million cut
Defense department environmental cleanup- $638 million cut
Federal emergency management agency (FEMA)- $954 million cut
Clean drinking water funds- $997 million cut
Of course these are just some examples, but I think I have made my point. It is time to stand up and demand that these huge corporations actually pay the Federal Income tax. I do, and a whole lot of other people do as well. Small businesses have to pay, so why should multinational corporations continuously be allowed to be exempt from paying? I am not asking for higher taxes, nor more taxes to be implemented. I am simply asking for those who do not pay anything at all, to step up and start contributing to the pot. And for those corporations who are masters at transfer pricing, there needs to be penalties put in place for taking advantage of the system
We all agree that something has to change, but why should it fall on the middle classes shoulders, and the poor of our country? Shouldn’t it be about time that the upper 10% actually start paying their taxes?
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