I was reading in the LA Times about the charges and counter charges McCain and Obama made against each other. The point of the article was to point out the facts behind the claims. During the debates McCain said Obama would raise corporate taxes, which are already the second highest in the world. Obama shot back that because of loopholes (created by lobbyists), corporations pay among the lowest taxes in the world.
To my astonishment, the LA Times said both were right – but with one significant difference: The highest statutory corporate tax rate in the US is second only to Japan. However, in August the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that showed that two-thirds of US corporations and over two-thirds of foreign corporations pay NO TAX AT ALL, despite having $2.5 trillion in revenue.
This should be the campaign headline – hammered ever day from now till the election.
More below the fold...
The American public has been defrauded by the Republican Party – chanting their mantra of lower corporate taxes, while already paying nothing. It’s a disgrace.
Here’s exerpts from an article from CNNmoney.com
Most firms pay no income taxes - Congress
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. companies and 68% of foreign corporations do not pay federal income taxes, according to a congressional report released Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined samples of corporate tax returns filed between 1998 and 2005. In that time period, an annual average of 1.3 million U.S. companies and 39,000 foreign companies doing business in the United States paid no income taxes - despite having a combined $2.5 trillion in revenue.
The study showed that 28% of foreign companies and 25% of U.S. corporations with more than $250 million in assets or $50 million in sales paid no federal income taxes in 2005. Those companies totaled a combined $372 billion in sales for the largest foreign companies and $1.1 trillion in revenue for the biggest U.S. companies.
"The tax system that allows this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hardworking Americans who pay their fair share of taxes," Dorgan said in a statement.
Please promote this idea, if not this diary.
Thanks,