RE: Breaking Wealth Bubbles

[tarazkp]

but they are the ones engaging in that because they are the strongest companies in the world and not because they are American.

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy though, isn't it? Essentially, they are able to be strong and generate additional wealth through tax mechanisms, which then feeds into all kinds of other strengthening activities. Tax shouldn't be a tool for wealth generation, should it? It is now though, but it is only available to some.

These companies have zero allegiance to USA, they are truly global entities beyond any of the governments. And they are doing it in America just as much as they are doing it in Finland.

Yes they are, but there is also a difference in the US, because the people making the wealth are also investing it back into the US, right? They are taking money globally and investing it locally, inflating the value of the companies they support. Again, it is a cycle that just keeps building more gap.

It is really hard to make them pay their fair share, that is why while we as individuals pay 37% federal tax, 7.5% or 15% social security/self employment tax, property taxes of $20k usd per year, 11% sales tax, etc.

I don't think it is that hard. Just legislation and precise book keeping. If only there was a way to record transactions that could be trusted....

Trump administration in the last ditch effort lowered the effective corporate tax rate to only 10% ! That's one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world! I guess some tax from corporations is better than none as is frequently the case now...

You know what is funny? The average paid by the fortune 500 companies was only something like 11% anyways. So, ten is not a big difference - except they will use the same loopholes to end up paying 5.

Comments

[seattlea]

Yes they are, but there is also a difference in the US, because the people making the wealth are also investing it back into the US, right? They are taking money globally and investing it locally, inflating the value of the companies they support. Again, it is a cycle that just keeps building more gap.

I don't think the wealth is being invested back into US... And yes the taxes corporations pay have declined for years:

Check this out:

General Electric earned nearly $7 billion in 2023, yet instead of paying any federal income tax on those profits they got a refund of $423 million. Of the four firms that paid any taxes, Meta paid the highest rate at 11.5%, but that was just barely more than half the statutory rate. The two automakers, GM and Tesla, paid only 4.1% and 1.5%, respectively. T-Mobile paid a paltry 0.4% in federal taxes.

And if you want to read about S&P 500 there is great article:
https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/sectors/sp-500-companies-paid-no-tax/#:~:text=What's%20The%20Typical%20S&P%20500,companies%20got%20off%20scot%20free.

I love this quote about Tesla:

When it comes to keeping taxes down, no one does it better than Tesla. The electric vehicle maker reported 2023 income tax credit of $5 billion. And that's despite making a 2023 profit of nearly $15 billion.

[tarazkp]

Not invested into America, but in America, for more inflated ROI. It is a wealth creation mechanism, that syphons from everyone else who has to pay more tax and service more debt. It is a bloody terrible system for 99.5% of people.