Would it be better to lower the corporate tax rate but close loopholes that keep companies from

[FLAprogressive]

skipping out on US taxes? Just something I'm thinking of watching 60 Minutes.

[Ozymanithrax]

1. No... I mean, many corporations can manage to pay no tax.

Get rid of the tax loopholes. They should pay for the privaledge of existing here.

[rfranklin]

2. They will never pay taxes if there is any way to hide the money overseas...

and that is one of the major problems with multinational corporations--they have no allegiance to the USA except when they can get something for nothing, like military support.

[FLAprogressive]

3. which is why we should close the loopholes that keep them from shipping jobs overseas

[Donnachaidh]

4. no -- raise them and close the loopholes

These companies have taken jobs away, and then make profits by selling the products HERE made by cheaper workers elsewhere. They need to be paying higher taxes - because of the devastation they've done here.

Consequences -- that is what is needed.

[MichiganVote]

5. This report distorts the fact that what they really want is "No tax"

If companies had their way, we would pay them to set up shop here. Seem too unreal? In fact, we, the US taxpayers, already do pay companies to "invest" in places other than the US.

[Lint Head]

6. As long as people are homeless and senoirs are dying because

they can pay for health care corporations should pay their damn taxes. Screw the fascist pricks that have killed people because they want a frigging tax haven and value profit over human life! Demand creates jobs and profit not greed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Reinstate the tariffs

Make them pay for importing their products back into the US.

[Fool Count]

8. You know what would be even better?

To close the loopholes without lowering the corporate tax rates. Why can't they do that?

[ejpoeta]

9. i saw that. the argument was that other countries have a much lower tax rate.

ours is 35% and others are half that. it's nothing for them to move their headquarters to zug. so we are making them do it by making their taxes too high. huh? that is such bullshit! there are ways for them to lower their taxes.... by investing in the company, paying their workers a bonus.... stuff like that. i was so mad after watching that story. it started out where a texas company was trying to avoid their taxes by playing a shell game.... moving their head offices to some building which they did not have offices in. so here i thought maybe they are actually doing a story about corporatiions skirting their obligations. but no, it turned out to be this story about how the US makes these companies do this because they won't lower their tax rate. grrr!!!

[FLAprogressive]

11. that's true. It would have been nice to hear a counterpoint....

[doc03]

10. Something didn't compute with me, this dude they were

talking to said we have the highest corporate taxes in the developed world. He says if our taxes were like 12% corporations would come back to America. Then he says GE for instance paid 3% tax, that totally contradicts what he just said. Why would GE be happy with 12% when they get away with 3%?

[B Calm]

12. We need to go back to fair trade tariffs. Most of these companies

are headquartered outside the USA.

[FLAprogressive]

13. they're only "headquartered" outside the US on paper though, that's the problem.

[RDANGELO]

14. Here is what I think should be done.

Cut the corporate taxes and raise the taxes on the personal income of the wealthy. That is where all the money is ending up anyway.

[postulater]

15. We need to have a Universal Corporation structure

with laws that govern a corporation that acts internationally.

Similar to other international laws governing human rights, these laws would be agreed upon by people of all nations and would protect people and resources against the corporations.

They would have no where else to go if they face the same laws everywhere.

[Siouxmealso]

16. Other than nationalizing industry

there's nothing the government can do about it. These are privately-held companies or public companies who have an obligation to their shareholders to maximize their profits. If you had a 401k or pension plan that held these stocks you'd be demanding they focus on profit because your retirement income depends on it.

According to the guy in the 60 Minutes piece, there's over $1.2 trillion in corporate assets in Ireland alone and over 100,000 jobs as a result of the 35% corporate tax rate. You figure it out.

[OHdem10]

17. We really need to follow this closely. Why do Businesses love

this???

[jmowreader]

18. I had a different idea

Raise the corporate tax rate by a LOT, but implement a set of loopholes that encourage the creation of living-wage jobs in the United States.

In the Good Old Days, the tax system operated on the "you spend your money in ways that will help America, or we'll do it for you." Which is why America was so heavily industrialized. When Reagan came in, his Business Knows Best tax structure encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas.

By dereaganizing the tax system, American business will be encouraged to spend money in America. This is probably a fantasy, but it's no worse than the "tax cuts create jobs" shit the Republicans are pulling.

If this is in response to the Outrage du Jour--that GE pays no income tax because they own more congressmen than any other company: GE also does a LOT of research and development, which is deductible and rightly so as it creates jobs.