They will say this shit until someone stops them...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

It has been a Republican talking point for some time that we have the highest corporate tax rates.

We do, while offering so many loopholes that many corporations pay little or no taxes. We take a smaller percentage in REALITY than most nations do.

The Republicans always mention Ireland as the example of a nation that out-competes us because they have low corporate tax rates.

They were doing this as recently as last night. I saw some congresspug ranting about Ireland using talking points that must have been written five years ago.

In the real world, the one newspapers try to cover on a day-to-day basis but to which pugs are oblivious, Ireland is an economic basket-case right now. Their national bonds might reach junk status before this thing is over. They are in BIG trouble.

But no one ever calls these pukes on it...

Oh if only we could combine the economy of Ireland with the strong sense of faith in national life of Afghanistan and the entrepreneurial spirit of Russia during the height of 1990s gangsterocracy! What a brave new world it would be.

[TheBigotBasher]

1. Ireland was the Celtic Tiger

That however has dried up. The Celtic Tiger was also only comparing Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Ireland has only got a 3.5 million population

[Jackeens]

3. Correction!

The term 'Celtic Tiger' wasn't a comparison of the Republic of Ireland's economy with the other Celtic nations, it was a term coined to compare the boom in the economy in Ireland to that which took place in the 'East Asian Tiger' economies.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. ...

[Jackeens]

4. In truth K&H...

..those low corporate tax rates were partly credited for the boom in the Irish economy, along with other highly significant factors (eg highly skilled workforce with one of the highest university graduate rates in the world)...of course the big corporations are now leaving Ireland in their droves. So, yeah, it's sweet can you bring them to your country, but keeping them there is the tricky part.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. My (attempted) point was the immortality of RW talking points. (Perhaps not the ideal example)

Also, there's the usual irritation factor at hearing people talk about how niche policies in very small economies are scalable to the world's largest economy.

(Why don't we just adopt the tax structure of the Cayman Islands? It works for them...)

[grantcart]

5. There is no question that the US has lower tax rates both indirectly and directly.

Because the system of taxes is so different it is very difficult to compare.


It is difficult to compare because of the different nature of taxation. Most European and developing countries now use a VAT (Value Added Tax) system that taxes goods and services but is not paid by the companies involved. They collect the tax and it is accumulated down the distribution change with each step getting a credit for the tax that they paid. This means that a VAT of 7% is collected at each stage of distribution but the total tax for that product remains 7%.

It provides a big advantage for European and developing countries manufacturing base because in many plans the VAT is refunded if the product is exported.

Beyond this problem of comparing apples and oranges is the greater problem that manufacturers and businesses in the United States have to bear excessive burden because of the terrible health system that some of them have to fund which has much greater costs than other developing countries.

If you count the entire tax burden other countries pay a much higher amount per capita but they also have more discretionary money because individuals are not saddled with a puntative and costly health system.

You can read more about VAT here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax



On edit you can see that the VAT in Ireland is actually higher than other countries but again when they export the government refunds the revenue collected making exports tax free.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

7. A VAT note for online shoppers:

If you ever think you might want to buy something online in Europe, the VAT is typically included in the price shown, but we (in the US) don't have to pay it.

So everything is about 18% off.

So though the Euro is worth $1.29 the prices shown online are pretty close to dollars when you subtract the VAT. ($1.05?)

(Any store that doesn't do many international sales might not understand that you don't owe the VAT, but bigger ones do.)

[Abq_Sarah]

8. On paper we have

The highest corporate tax rate but our tax laws allow protection against the full amount of taxation in most cases. Additionally, the ability to use pass through taxation makes it appear that many companies pay no taxes. For instance, I elect pass through taxation on my LLC so net profits (if there are any) are taxed as personal income.