Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMitt Romney Offers Three Distortions About His Taxes All Rolled Up Into One Big Lie
Mitt Romney Offers Three Distortions About His Taxes All Rolled Up Into One Big LieBy Joshua Holland
January 26, 2012
Romney: One of the reasons why we have a lower tax rate on capital gains is because capital gains are also being taxed at the corporate level. So as businesses earn profits, thats taxed at 35 percent, then as they distribute those profits as dividends, thats taxed at 15 percent more. So, all total, the tax rate is really closer to 45 or 50 percent.
Mendacious talking point, the first: double-taxation. We don't tax funds in this country, we tax transactions. If a company turns a profit on its transactions, it pays taxes on that profit. When it pays money out to investors as dividends, or when investors sell stock at a profit, those transactions are also taxed. No transaction is taxed twice.
Mendacious talking point, the second: that 35 percent tax rate. As I've written before, that's the top corporate tax rate on the books, but because businesses take advantage of all manner of loopholes, the effective rate what they actually pay -- is actually far lower. It's a classic conservative talking-point that we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, but the reality is that we collect less in corporate taxes than most developed countries. Studies of some of the biggest companies have shown their effective tax rates to be, on average, less than half of what's on the books.
And the sleight-of-hand: Bain Capital is a Limited Liability Company. This is what's known as a pass-through structure, meaning that the company pays zero in corporate income taxes the partners' shares are taxed as income or losses on their personal returns, and, in this case, most of the gains are investment income taxed at 15 percent.
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/767184/mitt_romney_offers_three_distortions_about_his_taxes_all_rolled_up_into_one_big_lie/#paragraph5
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
5 replies, 1256 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Mitt Romney Offers Three Distortions About His Taxes All Rolled Up Into One Big Lie (Original Post)
Better Believe It
Jan 2012
OP
And how is a limited partnership different from LLC's or is it a form of LLC?
Better Believe It
Jan 2012
#3
gateley
(62,683 posts)1. Interesting. I never knew/understood the LLC "pass-through" stuff. nt
Response to Better Believe It (Original post)
Mosby This message was self-deleted by its author.
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)3. And how is a limited partnership different from LLC's or is it a form of LLC?
Response to Better Believe It (Reply #3)
Mosby This message was self-deleted by its author.
indepat
(20,899 posts)5. Disgusting ingenuous dissembling distortions equal one big lie which is at the heart of everything
espoused by RWers.