13 Mindblowing Facts About America's Tax-Dodging Corporations

[madokie]

The stunning numbers on the sorry state of corporate taxation in modern America
A judicious writer avoids adjectives like "mindblowing," especially when covering political or economic issues. But no other word seems to describe the stunning reality of corporate taxation in modern America, which cries out for the italics-heavy, exclamation-point-driven format made famous by Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Stylistic overkill? Read these thirteen facts and you may change your mind.
1. We're told we can't "afford" full Social Security benefits, even though closing corporate tax-haven loopholes would pay for Obama's "chained CPI" benefit cut more than ten times over!

Abusive offshore tax havens cost the US $150 billion in lost tax revenue every year (via FACT Coalition). That's $1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

The "chained CPI" cut, proposed by President Obama and supported by Republicans, is projected to "save" a total of $122 billion to $130 billion over the same time period by denying benefits to seniors and disabled people.

More, much more: http://www.alternet.org/13-mindblowing-facts-about-americas-tax-dodging-corporations

[Kolesar]

1. 14 corporations hide money in multitiered holding corporations to dodge IRS audits

If a company is being audited, the auditors are blocked from auditing the corporation that is two tiers away, so the IRS can never complete the analysis.

David Cay Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize for this reporting a decade ago, IIRC

[madokie]

2. Seems like since corporations became people

shit has gone down hill. The more we, our government, gives them preferred treatment such as tax breaks the more they screw us

[rurallib]

3. what the fuck can we do - they own congress

except for a few like Warren and Sanders. Fuck!

[madokie]

6. I don't know the answer

I wish I did.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. The tax SYSTEM is corrupt.

You can't fault people for using an army of accountants to wring the best tax breaks out of that system.

Yeah, it's unfair the little guys can't afford the army of accountants. No argument, in fact I'll cheer that very line if discussion. But that's the point. The system is so corrupt the people who can hire the army of accountants use them to increase their profitability and hence to gain an unfair competitive advantage but also use the army to further complicate the system to hit the smaller guys both left and right.

The system has to be simplified so the little guys can play too without having to hire an army of accountants and lawyers. Only then can they compete against the mega-corps and bring up wages while driving down consumer prices. Anything that further complicates the system is only further war against the little guys.

[BlueStreak]

5. And let's put this in perspective. If we fixed even half these things ...

there would be no deficit, we could afford to pay free 4-year college tuition for all the A students in the country, we could build a 21-st century transportation system such as they are building in China and elsewhere, and we could all get a 10% cut in the taxes, fees, and tolls we pay.

[abelenkpe]

7. Recent washingtonpost article

Posted to Facebook by my lifelong democratic uncle:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-left-needs-to-get-real-on-medicare-social-security-and-the-deficit/2013/06/27/f697fdea-dde9-11e2-b797-cbd4cb13f9c6_story.html

More third way BS! Corporations rule this country. They have subverted every government on the planet. Terms like republic, democratic, socialist, communist have no meaning. They have bought our politicians and gamed the system to their advantage. It's sad when democrats like my Uncle buy into their propaganda. We have anti trust laws. Big media, finance, pharma and energy need to be broken up. Corporations need to pay their fair share or not be allowed to exist.