Mike Luckovich for August 27, 2014

@DavidInMaine – If a Canadian Fast Food Company set up shop in your town – Would you not eat there? Or if Tim Hortons set up a Coffee and Doughnut shop down the street from you would you drive another mile to make sure you were buying from an American company?

Corporations are free to move around the globe to seek the best economic environment for themselves. I can’t remember the last time I ate at BK but I don’t eat much fast food and I certainly wouldn’t avoid them for making good economic decisions.

In fact, from a consumer standpoint, I’m liable to give them a try because I should be able to get more for my money.

I have Always argued that Corporations shouldn’t be required to pay taxes. They should be required to disperse a certain percentage of their earnings to their shareholders in the form of dividends which can then be taxed through the personal income tax.

An even better solution would involve doing away with the personal income tax and going with a VAT tax or sales tax. Then everyone pays: Corporations, citizens, currently tax free groups.

The government does perform necessary services and needs to be funded. But the hodgepodge of rules and gimmees built in to the current tax code make it anything but fair.

Canada-Universal Healhcare-Lower Tax Bite

DaSharkie: Yes. MARGINAL. The thousands of pages of loopholes means some of the largest companies in the world pay a ridiculously tiny portion of their income in taxes. But that doesn’t fit in with your corporate tool philosophy, does it?

Mephistopholes: a VAT tax is a great idea. Let’s start with carbon. When the oil companies take it out of the ground, or coal companies blast away entire mountains, tax it right there.

“No different than a person choosing to live in a different state that has lower taxation rates”.Where they have to buy new tires for their cars every year because of all the bad roads.TEHO.

No, the US does not have the highest MARGINAL tax rate for corporations in the world. The marginal tax rate is how much you pay on each additional dollar of income, so it relates to tax brackets and not a set rate.

What the US does have is a high corporate tax rate compared to other countries, but when you factor in subsidies, tax breaks, etc. our taxes aren’t out of whack. It’s just that our tax code is unfair because it advantages some businesses over others, and some markets over others.

Here’s a link to more than two dozen profitable companies that paid no taxes from 200 8 to 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/corporation-tax-rate_n_4855763.html

@tiredofit – Perhaps you don’t understand how corporations work.

Corporations companies owned by shareholders. When the corporation does well i.e. earnings exceed expenses INCLUDING TAX – That corporation distributes the money earned to the shareholder in the form of dividends. Those dividends are taxable.

Currently, we charge investors a flat fee of 15% on dividend earnings because we recognize that the money was already taxed once at the corporate level.

Don’t eat at burger king – Go ahead – Fast food isn’t good for you and you will be healthier for it. But don’t do it out of some misguided idea that Burger king or Any Internationally owned company is somehow getting a free ride: They pay property taxes, sales taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes for each of their employees, business fees to local governments etc.

We all agree that the Government needs to be funded. But it is wrong to expect the owners of companies to pay a disproportionate share of the cost. And we, America, will continue to lose companies if we think we can put off taxing the average American citizen by foisting the cost onto corporations. They will continue to flee the country.

We need a simple tax code that doesn’t hand out gimmees to every politicially connected group.

DaSharkie: Yeah, gotta preserve the Reagan Hood economics of steal from the poor to give to the rich by what ever regressive tax scheme you can come up with short of capitation (and Thatcher even attempted that)..No corporation or wealthy individual ever pays their bracket rate. Their congressional puppets make sure the tax laws have more holes than lacey swiss cheese – and get most of that back in subsidies, like the awl bidness.

@hippogriff – and 48% of the population turn out their pockets and claim they can’t afford to pay taxes and so they aren’t asked too. How is that any more fair?

Again – we need a simple tax code where everyone pays a percentage OR better yet a sales tax that burdens the spender and encourages savings and investment.

Just another patriotic multinational corporation….

’“An even better solution would involve doing away with the personal income tax and going with a VAT tax or sales tax.”

Couldn’t agree more. The only exemption would be on ….’-The only exemptionS would be on essential stuff like, you know, oil, family farms like Conagra and ADM, defense industries, financial entities that are too big to fail, financial entities that increase market liquidity, like hedge funds, startups like the entire fracking industry, ….-You know, only the essentials. Just like now.

@Opednance – I disagree. You must have in mind some artificial dollar amount beyond which it’s just expected that you pay taxes on it. I don’t share your opinion on this at all.

The money I pay in taxes is money that I would otherwise spend or invest. Why is it that those of us who pay taxes are just assumed to do it patriotically and greatfully while others claim they can’t afford it.

I don’t mind doing my part to support the government but I resent the hell out of those who say – I can’t afford to give a percentage of my income so you should pay even more to cover my costs.

The sales tax doesn’t fall disproportionaly on the poor – That’s a myth. But it does Fall on the poor and middle class unlike our current tax system.

If you can’t afford an accountant, a lawyer, and a lobbyist to finagle your income, you’re screwed. Period.

Burger King’s new motto after moving to a foreign county to shift taxes to everyone else should be: “We’re having it our way. We weren’t satisfied with just destroying America’s health. We’re greedy, selfish, unpatriotic, unfair, tax dodging, lying, cheaters and we want to have it our way on that too.”

@opednance – Coporations pay those state and local taxes as well. Why do you feel it is OK for me to pay Federal taxes and support the Federal government but the guy next door shouldn’t have too.

We all benefit from the Federal government – Roads, Airports, Telecommunications, Hospitals, Defense, FBI, etc. etc. We should all pay for their upkeep.

The big problem with going to a VAT or national sales tax (which I favor) is unemployment. What will we do with people who work in Internal Revenue and affiliated offices? And what will the entire profession of accountants do? Their only reason for existence is to be the translators between convoluted tax codes and taxpayers who don’t want to spend half their lives interpreting what Congress voted on without reading it first.

When there are no convoluted tax laws, their services will mostly be no longer needed.

And our “representatives” will have far fewer people lobbying them (and handing them large sums of money) to manipulate tax law for their industry. However will they find a way to feed themselves?

This doesn’t necessarily hurt my feelings. Nobody looked out for me when the insurance companies and commercial interests reshaped what used to be called health care for their own purposes. Times change; we all have to adapt.

However, these consequences will be a significant stumbling block to better, more favorable, and more fair tax law.

The “effective” tax rate is much lower (~17%) due to tax shelters: http://tinyurl.com/lhrxtmm …and the US gives tax credit for corporate tax paid overseas.

Anyone who thinks increasing the minimum wage raises prices better not talk to anyone from a country with VAT, or higher sales taxes (the most oppressive taxes there are on everyone BUT the top 1%) Driving an old European car, and blogging with fellow owners, their number one complaint is VAT.

Just, NO !…that specious “Fairness” only benefits those who can afford, or NEED an accountant.

Sharkie: just a note: Berkshire Hathaway is also full of “personhood” as a corporation, even without Buffet, and has more rights than any flesh and blood, just like Burger King (which I heard today is controlled by Brazilians in the majority ownership.)

Then what SHOULD we do? Hold them at gunpoint? As a country we REALLY need to step back and drop the “us” vs “them” mentality and look at the country as a whole. “Us” vs “them” gives us Furguson, where people rally behind a thug simply because of his color..“Us” vs “them” will bring everybody down.