There Are Problems in the US Tax System (duh)
But this article is still really well-written about it.
That pretty much encapsulates it. The rest is details. So, how do we fix this? I think it's pretty obvious at this point that we need to scrap the entire tax system, at least for corporations, and start over again. According to the article, it seems to be well acknowledged that the tax rate as it stands (35%, nominally) is too high. Apple Execs in the article are claiming that it needs to be single-digits, which I'm not entirely sure I believe (as much as they threaten to leave and go to other markets, we are still the biggest economy in the world. They ain't leavin', yet), but I doubt the rate can be much above 15%, if that. The other real big question is how to decide which income to tax where. Again, the article says there are a bunch of companies looking for a "territorial" tax system, of which I'm again slightly skeptical. However, I don't know much about alternatives. Anyone who can offer enlightenment?
Quote:
The shameful thing about Apple Inc.’s ability to structure its business to avoid United States taxes was not that it did it. In fact, as Apple executives tried to point out at the Senate hearing at which their tax strategies were detailed, they could have chosen to pay much less in American taxes than they did. |