The current tax system imposed on corporations by the U.S. government is at best, a biased system; for corporations that have a net profit, taxes on those profits amount to a full one-third. So, if youre doing business as a standard C corporation, and you do manage to make a profit, youre going to owe Uncle Sam about 30%. Thats an amazing figure, so lets look at some of the behind-the-scenes information that will help to enlighten us as to the why so much tax should be levied.
The first thing you must understand when dealing with the corporate tax structure, is that for the most part, many large corporations do not pay the complete 30% tax that would typically be levied against an individual if they were in the same situation; corporate accountants and the sheer process by which corporations must report their income, expenses, deductions, depreciation, dividends, and any other financial transactions allows for huge deductions that typically offset any tax due. This concept is a major topic of discussion today, as we attempt to better control and regulate corporate accountability for their finances.
When you have large corporations that are obviously reporting earnings and paying dividends, yet they pay no tax, you should be tipped off to the fact that there is a problem. How to fix that problem, may be another subject altogether.
The latest proposals have been to eliminate the corporate tax altogether. This would shift the tax burden to the individuals of this country; that is a tremendous shift from the post-war era of the Second World War, when corporations and individuals shared the responsibility almost equally. Thanks to the lobbying done by corporate lobbyists over the last thirty years, weve finally reached the point of no return. The latest proposals have come from within the halls of Congress to eliminate corporate tax, and let the average taxpayer assume all the responsibility.
In case some of you have noticed, we as individual citizens are losing more and more of our take home pay each year, to taxes of some kind. Medicare, social security, and income taxes take a larger portion of our dispensable income each year. This would take a step closer to making even more of our income the property of the tax man.
What about this seems unfair? As pointed out by the individuals who are in favor of eliminating corporate tax, it would encourage capital investment and job growth in this country and that is absolutely true, it theoretically would do just that. But since when does theory actually work in practice? Communism works in theory. Many individuals believe it is simply another way to provide tax-free income to CEOs, and Board Members. The latest scandals such as Enron and HealthSouth have shown this country real hard evidence of the corporate abuses that are rampant in this country, and so far uncontrolled. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has taken great steps toward greater accountability on the part of the corporate environment, but elimination of corporate tax is simply a legal way to avoid paying the tax.
The most interesting information I have found in researching this topic, is the fact that the media has paid little or no attention to these issues, thus allowing the purported growth of the corporate lobbyists to go virtually unnoticed by the American public. While mush emphasis has been placed on the Social Security issues we face, nothing has been mentioned about the loss of revenue weve experienced over the last thirty to forty years because of the decreased taxation of corporate America.
Where have tax laws and law makers turned to accommodate the decrease in corporate tax? There have been increases in individual tax liability and there has been an increase in sales tax. The sales tax affects the poorer of this country as a percentage of income, than the rich. The loss of revenue from the corporate structure of this country have led to starved educational systems, cities and counties that are revenue poor, and a economic system for the poor that only becomes harder to sustain.
When you factor in the ability of the wealthy and the corporate entities of this country to hire brilliant accountants that find loopholes in the tax system, and relieve their clients entirely of their tax liability, you cannot believe that the current system operates for the people, by the people, can you? |
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