On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World. Britain and the United States are the world's two most important tax havens. Who are the corporations and individuals taking advantage of tax havens? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What are the costs of international tax evasion? And how could the global financial system be regulated? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
Guest:
Nicholas Shaxson, a British writer and an investigative journalist
Click to Listen: How have tax havens distorted the global economy?
Now that US corporations have been designated "persons" by the US Supreme Court, I believe that they should pay taxes as "persons" - that is, they should pay taxes on their INCOME as opposed to their profits. Corporations can buy real estate, vehicles, food, anything, and deduct them from their income before figuring their taxes; but I cannot deduct my car payments, home mortgage, food, etc. We should treat all "persons" the same for tax purposes.
ReplyDeleteBruce, such simple solutions don't work. We you say `we should', who is that? The US government can only try to control what's going on the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAnd all the deductions that reduce income are done in the tax havens, and often invisibly. And paying taxes in earnings repatriated into the US only encourages creation of jobs offshore, rather than in the US. For details see Follow the IP
http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/gio/2010/FollowTheIP+p66-wiederhold.pdf .