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-Not the OP, but my impression is s/he implied that the big corporations performed tax shenanigans to ensure their taxable profit ended up very near zero - say,
by lb1lf 6y ago
-Not the OP, but my impression is s/he implied that the big corporations performed tax shenanigans to ensure their taxable profit ended up very near zero - say, buying expensive services from subsidiaries in tax havens &c.
Say I run a company out of the US called 'Paraná' (Seeing as the other big river is already taken), turning $1B/year profit.
I promptly spend the profit buying consulting services from 'Paraná Consulting and Tax Shenanigans LLC' based out of a Panama mailbox for $1.05B, for instance - then I even run my US business at a loss.
(I don't know anything about US or international tax codes, but the above basically sums up the methods described in X stories I've read about tax planning over the years.)
- nicoburns 6y agoI feel like this be addressed by simply banning all trade with tax haven countries.
- fakedang 6y agoDefine tax haven countries. The UK is a tax haven for a lot of Russians, Switzerland is a tax haven for anyone not American, the UAE is a tax haven that the US does 18B in trade with, and that invests roughly 25B annually in the US directly, Singapore is a tax haven that the US actually has a surplus with. So yeah, it's not simple.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoWould you also ban trade with tax haven states? There are states that have no income tax, low worker protections that offer lower costs, or did not choose to pay government employees 40 years ago with unfunded retirement benefits.
- sumedh 6y ago> all trade with tax haven countries. UK, Netherlands and others countries have their own tax havens like Cayman Island, Curacao Island. Are you really going to ban trade with such big financial powerhouses?
- nicoburns 6y agoYou need a big enough bloc to make the decision together. Ideally the US + the EU + UK/EEA countries. But then yes, if countries outside the bloc decide not to comply then that's on them.