Sent today:
Senator Hatch, I recently heard you stating that the tax rate on corporations and businesses was the highest in the world. Lowering them would be fantastic for my own business, but I don’t think it should be lowered any further for the likes of G.E., Bank of America, and ExxonMobile. You see, unlike these parasites, my business has never received any cash outlays from the government and I’ve always paid my tax responsibility.
It would be nice to see some Reagan style action to make business taxes equitable in this country. Small business is the backbone of America, but that backbone may break under the weight of large businesses who avoid their fair share in taxes.
Also, I’d be curious as to your thoughts on your colleague Senator Sanders’ list of Top-10 Tax Avoiders. Maybe next time you’re in front of the camera, or sending out a “Hatch Dispatch” you can include them.
Sincerely,
Pete Ashdown
What really needs to happen is complete overhaul of the tax code. Not just federal income tax, but all taxes. Basic deductions pegged to the poverty line (or some other equitable number) for individuals, expenses deducted from income for corporations, and a flat rate for everyone on any monies in excess of those deductions/expenses.
I agree that there are entities that are able to avoid paying taxes. The solution isn’t to raise or lower rates to make things more fair, it is to make the code simple.
Oh, and the most important thing of course, is for elected representatives to stop spending money like drunken sailors and saddling future generations with debt they might never be able to overcome.
Sanders’ list shows that many of these firms got refunds. Are you suggesting that large multinational corporations should not get refunds if they overpaid their taxes? For example, if you are a large corporation and you paid 28% of your income in taxes but you should have paid only 25%, you don’t get a refund on the 3%? Should only individuals (presumably low and middle income) get refunds for overpayment?
Also, some companies can pay zero taxes in a profitable year because they are carrying losses forward from previous years. Are you proposing that NOLs should not be carried forward?
Could you please me how ExxonMobile could be paying 25% if they get a rebate (not a refund) of $156 million and make $19 billion in profits? Without magic math (or former employees of the IRS hired as lobbyists), I see their tax responsibility as $4.75B, not -$156M. I don’t think anyone should pay taxes on a loss, but please tell me when these companies took a loss that was not only reflected in their shareholder statements but also their executive bonuses/salary-increases.
All I’m asking for is equity. If my small business has a bad year, I don’t get tax credits for the next year. Why should I? I don’t have the advantage of off-shore tax shelters, and exemptions being tailored for my products, and neither should anyone else. If you earn revenue in the USA, you pay taxes in the USA. Assuring equity between all businesses will not only help with the deficit, it will allow taxes to be lowered for everyone.
I wasn’t saying Exxon specifically. I was asking hypothetically. I’m sure there are companies, just like individuals, that overpay taxes or have NOLs to offset current liabilities so they would pay zero taxes in a given year.
If your small business has a bad year, don’t you get to carry NOLs forward? That’s standard practice. I’ve never heard of a company not being able to do that. I wonder why NOL carryforwards would not apply to your business. NOLs are not tax credits. They are deductions.
If you favor repealing section 199 deductions for Exxon, do you favor that for ALL manufacturers, including those that manufacture windmills, solar panels, telecom hardware, etc?
Hypothetically? I’m sorry, I thought you were referencing Sanders’ list. My feelings about whether NOL should be done away with or not depends wholly on how abused it is. Sanders’ list shows many very profitable, very wealthy corporations who have little to no marginal tax rate. As a small business owner, I don’t have that luxury. Certainly I support exempting capital expenditures on items we as a society wish to promote, but what that has to do with Carnival Cruise lines having a 1.1% tax rate, I don’t know. Address why you think the entities on the list along with G.E. should continue having little to no tax responsibilities and then we can go into changes that could possibly affect how my and other small businesses pay their taxes.
Nice to meet you with Zina at Wasatch a few weeks back. THough you might find these interesting, if you have not already seen them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/business/20tax.html………..as a reference to your letter to Orrin.
And, here is a great article from the Journal over the weekend, in which an argument could be made……you should run as an independent.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303848104576385922449922958.html
Keep up the good fight Pete, and lets see if we can’t get Orrin out of office…….you will be up against the money of the supplement business, big banks, and other special interests, but our hope is “the community” will back you as your voice of reason becomes louder and louder.
Thanks, and all my best.
-Todd