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TruthAnalyzed

(83 posts)
Tue Aug 21, 2012, 03:06 PM Aug 2012

What are your ideas on taxes?

Personal taxes:
Corporate taxes(general):
Corporate tax credits:
Worldwide/Territorial system:
Tax on repatriated profits:
Capital gains tax:
Insert any other:

Now, this is a subject that I'm trying to make up my mind about. I don't think any blanket statements like 'Increase all' or 'Decrease all' are good ideas... blanket coverage just usually seems to say "I don't care to think about the different nuances and impacts of something"...

So here is kind of where I am standing... sorta

Personal taxes: Maintain current levels for the lower 90%. Increase progressive structure for the top 10%. Say, 10 million+ goes up to 50%, 5 million+ up to 45%, 1 million+ up to 40%.
Corporate taxes(general): Lower to increase competitiveness internationally, but reduce certain credits, subsidies, and loopholes to reduce the disparity between rates that corporations pay. I believe the effective rate on new investment is about 10% higher in the US than the rest of the OECD, we should at least try to look attractive, on a tax base, to international investment.
Corporate tax credits: Not really sure on many specifics. Subsidies for oil co's need to be looked at.
Worldwide/Territorial system: Perhaps a territorial system could be best, if companies are penalized for sending investments overseas. The lowest rates should be given to companies that take profits from overseas and reinvest it(not divvy it out to execs) in their workforce, expansion, pay/benefits, etc.
Tax on repatriated profits: Similar with the above, it should depend on where the money is going. Investment in the economy = lower tax rate. Payment to execs = higher tax rate.
Capital gains tax: I would say progressive, and eliminate the tax for those under $100,000 AGI. Max the rate out at maybe 35%. Impose a much higher rate on extremely short-term profits(automated trades) which do nothing but try to siphon money out of the economy. With that rule though, I would want to be careful not to penalize small-income day traders(I used to be one, made about $50k per year for way too much work).
Insert any other: ...

Well, one other idea is the idea of having flexible rates that adjust with unemployment. I really don't know the effect this would have, but maybe lower rates in certain areas when unemployment is high, could help.

I'm also wondering what is the best approach to handle loopholes. Do we look for them and specifically address them by law, or are there ways we could simplify the code so that people wouldn't be able to take as much advantage?
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