Wiseacre
Retired USAF Chief
According to the Tax Policy Center, in 2011 the US Gov't received about $181 billion in corp taxes. I say BFD, if I was running the place I'd offer any new business a tax free startup period of 5 years, and after that I'd require them and all current businesses to pay a flat tax of 10%. No deductions, no tax breaks, no loopholes. And as most other advanced economies do, I would not tax income earned abroad at all; bring it home at no charge. Pay it out in dividends or in expansion, whatever.
What do you think would happen if we did this? For one, I'm guessing we'd probably boost the economy substantially, and the employment picture would get rosier a lot quicker than it has over the past 4 years. Wouldn't hurt to setup a special slimmed down set of rules and regulations that the newbies would fall under, rather than the ridiculous compliance burden they face now.
I'm thinking most companies would spend less money trying to evade taxes, money that could be put to better use. I'm also thinking a lot of the special interest group lobbying for tax breaks would dry up if said breaks are not allowed. And the US would be far more competitive world-wide than we are now, as far as taxes are concerned. I wouldn't be surprised if the business tax revenue actually went up as a result.
So where's the downside? What am I missing? Even if revenues were reduced, I'm thinking the benefits to our society would outweigh the cost in more ways than dollars and cents.
What do you think would happen if we did this? For one, I'm guessing we'd probably boost the economy substantially, and the employment picture would get rosier a lot quicker than it has over the past 4 years. Wouldn't hurt to setup a special slimmed down set of rules and regulations that the newbies would fall under, rather than the ridiculous compliance burden they face now.
I'm thinking most companies would spend less money trying to evade taxes, money that could be put to better use. I'm also thinking a lot of the special interest group lobbying for tax breaks would dry up if said breaks are not allowed. And the US would be far more competitive world-wide than we are now, as far as taxes are concerned. I wouldn't be surprised if the business tax revenue actually went up as a result.
So where's the downside? What am I missing? Even if revenues were reduced, I'm thinking the benefits to our society would outweigh the cost in more ways than dollars and cents.
