4 ms·

This is a subject in dire need of some non-partisan, fact-based reporting. This piece is not remotely close. I'm not a tax lawyer, but as I understand the rece

This is a subject in dire need of some non-partisan, fact-based reporting. This piece is not remotely close. I'm not a tax lawyer, but as I understand the recent spate of "tax inversions," that is when a US company buys a foreign company and make the non-US entity the new HQ are much less of a dodge than is often reported. My understanding is that the US company still pays the full US tax rate (which is the highest in the world) on all sales in the US. They then pay the prevailing tax rates in the countries in which they operate. If they didn't have the foreign entity, they would have to pay the full US rate on sales they make in China, Spain, and South Africa—all of which have lower rates. In that light, Apple isn't dodging taxes, rather they're just not additional taxes on sales that happen outside the US. There's still an argument that can be made that they should still pay the US, but I think it strikes people as less fair. So instead we get amorphous reports designed to stoke fear, uncertainty, and doubt with regard to these companies. If nothing else, the reporting should be clear that the US wouldn't be getting all that money back, just the portion that exceeds the tax rate in the various countries they operate in. Like I said, I'm no lawyer, or even accountant, but this piece is garbage from a logical perspective.

tosseraccount 11y ago
"... the full US tax rate (which is the highest in the world)" not really. " the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent." ( source : http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/09/eric-bolling/does-us-have-highest-corporate-tax-rate-free-world/ http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/09/... ). Actual corporate taxes paid are below the average developed country
- jzwinck 11y ago
  I also think your parent overplayed that one, but you are conflating the basic tax schedule with the actual taxes paid. There is a big difference, which is the point of the article.
- replicatorblog 11y ago
  From the same link: "Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits."
jzwinck 11y ago
There is a parallel for US persons living abroad. The US is one of the few countries in the world which expects to collect income tax from its nonresident citizens. As in the corporate world, this makes Americans less competitive in the global marketplace, because people from almost any other country take home a greater fraction of their income. To some people in the US this is a desirable outcome, because anyone doing business overseas is a dirty tax dodger and ought to come back home.
- tzs 11y ago
  > There is a parallel for US persons living abroad. The US is one of the few countries in the world which expects to collect income tax from its nonresident citizens. As in the corporate world, this makes Americans less competitive in the global marketplace, because people from almost any other country take home a greater fraction of their income In countries with higher incomes taxes than the US (which seems to be most first world countries...), how come the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit do not result in US workers in such countries paying the same total income tax as that country's native workers?
  - jzwinck 11y ago
    In some scenarios you're right, for people who live in countries with higher income tax than the US. But there are several first-world countries which do not fit that description, which if you make 200K USD in 2015 probably includes Switzerland, Japan, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Russia. That's ignoring a huge number of not-so-first-world countries which are nonetheless nice places to work, plus countries like Greece where the actual income tax paid by local people is much less than the official rate.
  - AndyMcConachie 11y ago
    When I lived in NL I rarely had to pay anything to the USG. The problem was in creating the 70+ page document that the IRS required every year. For that I had to hire someone and pay them close to 1000eu every year. The problem for US citizens in developed countries WRT to the US taxes is not the taxes themselves. Rather it is the burden of complying with the law, and the cost of finding competent tax preparers knowledgeable in both US tax law, and local tax law. Everyone's circumstances are different. So there is no single/repeatable method for resolution.
mcv 11y ago
Tax on sales? Are you sure you're not confusing sales tax with other corporate taxes? Sales tax in the US is certainly not the highest in the world. No idea about other taxes.
deleted 11y ago
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tosseraccount 11y ago

"... the full US tax rate (which is the highest in the world)" not really. " the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent." ( source : http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/09/eric-bolling/does-us-have-highest-corporate-tax-rate-free-world/ http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/09/... ). Actual corporate taxes paid are below the average developed country

jzwinck 11y ago
I also think your parent overplayed that one, but you are conflating the basic tax schedule with the actual taxes paid. There is a big difference, which is the point of the article.
replicatorblog 11y ago
From the same link: "Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits."

jzwinck 11y ago

There is a parallel for US persons living abroad. The US is one of the few countries in the world which expects to collect income tax from its nonresident citizens. As in the corporate world, this makes Americans less competitive in the global marketplace, because people from almost any other country take home a greater fraction of their income. To some people in the US this is a desirable outcome, because anyone doing business overseas is a dirty tax dodger and ought to come back home.

tzs 11y ago
> There is a parallel for US persons living abroad. The US is one of the few countries in the world which expects to collect income tax from its nonresident citizens. As in the corporate world, this makes Americans less competitive in the global marketplace, because people from almost any other country take home a greater fraction of their income In countries with higher incomes taxes than the US (which seems to be most first world countries...), how come the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit do not result in US workers in such countries paying the same total income tax as that country's native workers?
- jzwinck 11y ago
  In some scenarios you're right, for people who live in countries with higher income tax than the US. But there are several first-world countries which do not fit that description, which if you make 200K USD in 2015 probably includes Switzerland, Japan, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Russia. That's ignoring a huge number of not-so-first-world countries which are nonetheless nice places to work, plus countries like Greece where the actual income tax paid by local people is much less than the official rate.
- AndyMcConachie 11y ago
  When I lived in NL I rarely had to pay anything to the USG. The problem was in creating the 70+ page document that the IRS required every year. For that I had to hire someone and pay them close to 1000eu every year. The problem for US citizens in developed countries WRT to the US taxes is not the taxes themselves. Rather it is the burden of complying with the law, and the cost of finding competent tax preparers knowledgeable in both US tax law, and local tax law. Everyone's circumstances are different. So there is no single/repeatable method for resolution.

mcv 11y ago

Tax on sales? Are you sure you're not confusing sales tax with other corporate taxes? Sales tax in the US is certainly not the highest in the world. No idea about other taxes.

deleted 11y ago

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