US corporation tax rates

[JohnT]

Oh yeah, he could do lots of things. Have the company pay for the country club dues, drive a corporate car, etc.

[Japher]

one day I will incorporate, it will be kewl. My dad is inc. and he is but a dentist. I just need my own buisness... Working on that though.

[Sava]

It is extremely difficult, and almost impossible, IMO, to effectively gauge how much a corporations or corporations in general pay in taxes. There are so many loopholes and slippery accounting practices that one can only make a best guess.

[Japher]

Or one can look at their balance sheets... I'm not saying they're right, but that is what they pay.

[JohnT]

Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it can't be done, Sava. For example, Sten seemed to have a pretty good idea as to how to get a rough estimate of the taxes Exxon-Mobile paid last FY... and that was in your thread, iirc.

[Sava]

I'm just saying it isn't as simple as looking at the tax reports of an individual. If I were to guess... proportionally, I think corporations pay less in taxes than the rest of America.

[Sava]

Originally posted by JohnT
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it can't be done, Sava. For example, Sten seemed to have a pretty good idea as to how to get a rough estimate of the taxes Exxon-Mobile paid last FY... and that was in your thread, iirc.

I'm not saying it can't... you should read my posts better rather than base your responses on things I didn't say. I said it was very difficult do to the complex nature of how corporations are organized. That's why its harder to convict corporate criminals.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Thanks much.

One more quick question, has the tax rate been changed in the recent years, some time in the 1990's?

AFAIK, the last time US corporate income tax rates were changed was with the 1986 tax law, the third major one during the Reagan administration.

What is normally changed is not marginal rates or brackets (too politically sensitive either direction), but technical changes such as depreciation rates and asset classes, alternative-minimum-tax thresholds and calculations, and stuff like that.

The People's Republic of California has a flat 9.6 percent tax on corporate profits, with a minimum tax if you lose money, but the PRC (ours, not yours ) extends that tax to all corporate operations worldwide, not just in California. So what people do is form separate entities for doing business in California, and the rest of the world. Nevada has no corporate income tax, and no personal income tax either - it's the only state with neither tax, although several other states also have no personal income taxes. AFAIK, Nevada is the only state with no corporate income tax.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Sava
I'm just saying it isn't as simple as looking at the tax reports of an individual. If I were to guess... proportionally, I think corporations pay less in taxes than the rest of America.

Two things you have to remember - one is individuals don't generally lose money, so they're taxed on positive income, while corporations can lose money, and only recover some of previous or future year's tax payments.

The other is that most corporations really can't benefit from multi-tier or multi-unit fun and games, or offshore charters, etc. Only a small percentage will be in a position where those sorts of fun and games are beneficial.

[Berzerker]

All corporate and business taxes should be eliminated. People should pay a tax on their personal income (I'd eliminate that too ). When a corporation has to pay a tax, it just passes the cost off on the consumers, so we end up paying their taxes anyway. If we had a national sales tax, then ALL products regardless of origin would be taxed at the same rate. Right now, if we tax a US business and a foreign competitor is exempt from the tax, we are giving the foreign business an advantage.

[Berzerker]

Corporate/business taxes should be eliminated, the consumers just end up paying them anyways.

[Worthingtons]

One of the Channel Islands Near Jersey doesnt have Tax.
As a result many many UK companies hire a resident to be a director for the company so they can claim to be based there and not qualify for certain UK Mainland taxes.
Cheers
Matt

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
AFAIK, the last time US corporate income tax rates were changed was with the 1986 tax law, the third major one during the Reagan administration.

Thanks.