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It's a simple sounding solution but I'm skeptical of the issue being that simple. There's a world of difference between GE style corporation and an S-corp owne

It's a simple sounding solution but I'm skeptical of the issue being that simple. There's a world of difference between GE style corporation and an S-corp owned by a single person. The GE type corporations effectively pay very little tax in the present system. They also have the right to spend an unlimited amount of money on election campaigns. In the U.S. system corporations are treated as persons. If a person makes an income (profit) they get taxed. What we presently have is a broken system in my opinion. The very rich earn their money through capital gains and the capital gains tax is very, very low. The very wealthy in the U.S. do not pay a fair share of the tax burden or for the cost of government. Perhaps eliminating corporate taxes while simultaneously greatly increasing capital gains taxes would be good. There could also be some bad consequences to eliminating corporate taxes altogether.

twoodfin 14y ago
The very wealthy in the U.S. do not pay a fair share of the tax burden or for the cost of government. They don't?? The top 1% of taxpayers paid 36.7% of all income taxes in 2009[1] (yes, that includes capital gains). The top 10% paid 70%! [1] http://ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html http://ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html
- yequalsx 14y ago
  One needs to look at overall tax receipts. Not just income taxes. The very wealthy primarily pay capital gains taxes and not income taxes. Also, the 36.7% figure is not meaningful without knowing the percentage of wealth the very rich control.
  - luminaobscura 14y ago
    so actually Top 10% pays more than 70% of the taxes when we also consider capital gains (because they are the ones who play with the capital) well, i think we all should be grateful for the %10, we are basically funded by them. Thank you rich folks!
    - yequalsx 14y ago
      The top 20% of the U.S. control 93% of the financial wealth of the country. I don't believe they pay 93% of the total tax burden.
- rprasad 14y ago
  The top 10% also earned 60% of all income earned in the U.S. in 2009. Thus, the differential is only 10%. (Source: http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521..., 2009 statistics). The poor spend all of their income on necessities: food, rent, utilities, clothing. They effectively do not have income after deducting their necessary expenses; many do not have sufficient income before deducting their necessary expenses. The wealthy spend comparatively little of their income on necessities; their income is increasingly used on luxuries. They can afford to do this because of the services provided by the government. The wealthy receive disproportionately more value from the government, yet the only pay 10% more than the rest of us.
yummyfajitas 14y ago
GE in particular paid very little tax in one particular year because they a) took a massive loss in the previous year and b) harvested a huge amount of tax subsidies, mostly relating to green energy. In the US the very wealthy pay a disproportionate fraction of taxes, relative to the income they earn. http://taxfoundation.org/article/new-data-top-1-pay-greater-dollar-amount-income-taxes-federal-government-bottom-90 http://taxfoundation.org/article/new-data-top-1-pay-greater-... http://i.imgur.com/wa8uu.png http://i.imgur.com/wa8uu.png (A graph of the data) The US actually has a more progressive tax system than any other OECD nation - only Ireland and Australia even come close. http://taxfoundation.org/blog/no-country-leans-upper-income-households-much-us http://taxfoundation.org/blog/no-country-leans-upper-income-... Given that the poor and middle class consume disproportionate amounts of government services (primarily redistribution), while the wealthy pay a disproportionate amount of taxes, it's an untenable position that the wealthy don't pay their fair share.
- yequalsx 14y ago
  It's a bad point of view to look at government services consumed. The very rich live in a system that allows them to have gotten their wealth. They benefit greatly from living in our society. They should pay to maintain it. What matters is not the percentage of all taxes they pay but what percentage of wealth they control and how much they can pay. I agree with Christ in this matter. To whom much is given much is expected.
  - yummyfajitas 14y ago
    As the numbers I provided demonstrate, the rich do pay to maintain it. It's the poor who mostly don't pay. The US is already more progressive than the rest of the world - how much more progressive do you believe it needs to become?
    - yequalsx 14y ago
      Does income tax include capital gains in the article? I think not but am not sure on this. One must look at the ratio of wealth controlled to the ratio of total expenditures of government. For the very wealthy that ratio should be higher than it is for any other group. That's the idea behind a progressive system. The focus on income taxes is a red herring. The poor pay a disproportionate amount in regressive taxes such as sales tax. One must look at overall burdens and overall ability to pay. Proportionately the more one has the more one should pay.

twoodfin 14y ago

The very wealthy in the U.S. do not pay a fair share of the tax burden or for the cost of government. They don't?? The top 1% of taxpayers paid 36.7% of all income taxes in 2009[1] (yes, that includes capital gains). The top 10% paid 70%! [1] http://ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html http://ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html

yequalsx 14y ago
One needs to look at overall tax receipts. Not just income taxes. The very wealthy primarily pay capital gains taxes and not income taxes. Also, the 36.7% figure is not meaningful without knowing the percentage of wealth the very rich control.
- luminaobscura 14y ago
  so actually Top 10% pays more than 70% of the taxes when we also consider capital gains (because they are the ones who play with the capital) well, i think we all should be grateful for the %10, we are basically funded by them. Thank you rich folks!
  - yequalsx 14y ago
    The top 20% of the U.S. control 93% of the financial wealth of the country. I don't believe they pay 93% of the total tax burden.
rprasad 14y ago
The top 10% also earned 60% of all income earned in the U.S. in 2009. Thus, the differential is only 10%. (Source: http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521..., 2009 statistics). The poor spend all of their income on necessities: food, rent, utilities, clothing. They effectively do not have income after deducting their necessary expenses; many do not have sufficient income before deducting their necessary expenses. The wealthy spend comparatively little of their income on necessities; their income is increasingly used on luxuries. They can afford to do this because of the services provided by the government. The wealthy receive disproportionately more value from the government, yet the only pay 10% more than the rest of us.

yummyfajitas 14y ago

GE in particular paid very little tax in one particular year because they a) took a massive loss in the previous year and b) harvested a huge amount of tax subsidies, mostly relating to green energy. In the US the very wealthy pay a disproportionate fraction of taxes, relative to the income they earn. http://taxfoundation.org/article/new-data-top-1-pay-greater-dollar-amount-income-taxes-federal-government-bottom-90 http://taxfoundation.org/article/new-data-top-1-pay-greater-... http://i.imgur.com/wa8uu.png http://i.imgur.com/wa8uu.png (A graph of the data) The US actually has a more progressive tax system than any other OECD nation - only Ireland and Australia even come close. http://taxfoundation.org/blog/no-country-leans-upper-income-households-much-us http://taxfoundation.org/blog/no-country-leans-upper-income-... Given that the poor and middle class consume disproportionate amounts of government services (primarily redistribution), while the wealthy pay a disproportionate amount of taxes, it's an untenable position that the wealthy don't pay their fair share.

yequalsx 14y ago
It's a bad point of view to look at government services consumed. The very rich live in a system that allows them to have gotten their wealth. They benefit greatly from living in our society. They should pay to maintain it. What matters is not the percentage of all taxes they pay but what percentage of wealth they control and how much they can pay. I agree with Christ in this matter. To whom much is given much is expected.
- yummyfajitas 14y ago
  As the numbers I provided demonstrate, the rich do pay to maintain it. It's the poor who mostly don't pay. The US is already more progressive than the rest of the world - how much more progressive do you believe it needs to become?
  - yequalsx 14y ago
    Does income tax include capital gains in the article? I think not but am not sure on this. One must look at the ratio of wealth controlled to the ratio of total expenditures of government. For the very wealthy that ratio should be higher than it is for any other group. That's the idea behind a progressive system. The focus on income taxes is a red herring. The poor pay a disproportionate amount in regressive taxes such as sales tax. One must look at overall burdens and overall ability to pay. Proportionately the more one has the more one should pay.