Taxes, Complain, Complain, Complain...
By Karl-Thomas Musselman
Everyone complains about taxes, right? Certainly if you are a Republican or a Business. Then you really get up in arms. But I sense a new theory. The "It's All Just for Show" theory in which you make a big stink about taxes to get people who pay them to vote for Business Interests (which for the sake of fun I will call Republicans in Congress), but in reality you let Businesses just pay, or not pay, whatever they want, regardless of what rate they are.
Proof Positive?
More than 60% of U.S. corporations didn't pay any federal taxes for 1996 through 2000, years when the economy boomed and corporate profits soared, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported, citing the investigative arm of Congress.
The disclosures from the General Accounting Office are certain to fuel the debate over corporate tax payments in the presidential campaign. Corporate tax receipts have shrunk markedly as a share of overall federal revenue in recent years, and were particularly depressed when the economy soured. By 2003, they had fallen to just 7.4% of overall federal receipts, the lowest rate since 1983, and the second-lowest rate since 1934, federal budget officials say.
The GAO analysis of Internal Revenue Service data comes as tax avoidance by both U.S. and foreign companies also is drawing increased scrutiny from the IRS and Congress. But more so than similar previous reports, the analysis suggests that dodging taxes, both legally and otherwise, has become deeply rooted in U.S. corporate culture. The analysis found that even more foreign-owned companies doing business in the U.S. -- about 70% of them -- reported that they didn't owe any U.S. federal taxes during the late 1990s.
I wish us normal people could have the same luxury. And by normal people I'm including Republicans that aren't CEOs. So that includes Owen and Mark in the regular people category, unless one of them plans to come to the defense of the Billions not being paid by the likes of Kenny Boy Lay and Company? I mean, if corperations pay their taxes, doesn't that mean the government needs less of ours? Or at least doesn't need to raise them or go further into deficit to pay for the $150 Billion extra that the Medicare Plan accidently will cost.
Just some food for thought as we fill out our tax forms before the 15th.
Posted by Karl-Thomas Musselman at April 6, 2004 02:42 PM
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If we are going to have an income tax (which I do not support), then it should apply equally to all economic entities, individual and collective. Hit up everyone for the same percentage and stop granting tax breaks, incentives, and whatnot for every lobbyist that begs for them.
