Obama Administration Plans Corporate Tax Cut In Year Of Record Profits

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/05/05-9

As nationwide budget protests continue this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is prepared to unveil the Obama administration’s plan to lower the top corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent to less than 30 percent, and as low as 26 percent.

In order to pay for the cuts, the proposal calls for closing loopholes and slashing exemptions. Politico reports that Geithner has already begun meeting privately with CEOs, academics, labor unions, and liberal and conservative think tanks, and his aides say he is “encouraged by the response.”

Part of that optimism stems from the fact that Democrats and Republicans are both allies of the business world.

One top business lobbyist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said corporate tax reform should be “the easiest piece” of a complex fiscal bargain “because you have people in both parties in the business community.”


More at the link --

[still_one]

1. Tax cuts should only be applied to corporations who use those cuts to hire U.S. workers /nt

[Recursion]

9. Most hiring is done with pre-tax money as it is

Taxes are nearly always a red herring when we talk about employment; profit expectations are not.

[dionysus]

2. "...the proposal calls for closing loopholes and slashing exemptions..." for clarity.

[SDuderstadt]

3. Why, dionysus! You madcap!

Where you going with that shotgun?

[dionysus]

7. SDuderstadt? i didn't know you was back in town!

[SDuderstadt]

10. Dionysus...

I'm sorry. I forgot you were there. You may go now.

[phleshdef]

4. I'm all for this IF its done correctly, as the President outlined at his last SOTU.

If we close all the loopholes and exemptions, we could, in fact, lower the corporate tax rate but end up making a shit load more money off actual corporate taxes paid. For example, a company like GE that paid zero taxes after all the exemptions were added in would end up paying 26%. For those who aren't away of this, 26 is a bigger number than zero.

[LiberalAndProud]

5. Agreed. If we close the loopholes, we can raise the rate later.

And it will be hard for the tax hating Republicans to vote against it.

[90-percent]

6. An important concept

I see Republicans whine about driving corporations out of the USA because of the onerous 36% corporate tax rate.

They always leave out the fact that many corporations don't even come close to paying taxes at this rate. I'd like to see the loopholes closed up so completely that GE lays off it's staff of 875 dedicated to getting out of all GE tax obligations. Why? Because the loopholes to exploit are all closed and the skills of these 875 would no longer serve any purpose.

In other words, I'd go for the 26% if it was really the true effective across the board corporate tax rate. The additional tax revenue this would create has got to be staggering and a great answer to so many of out national problems!

-90% Jimmy

[Recursion]

8. If it's revenue-positive, I'm for it

Even if it's revenue neutral, it's worth doing.

[Lorien]

11. The DLCers are pleased, but they don't want you to notice this, so they unrec. nt