this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 254 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Republicans love to harken back to “the golden age” of america. Ever wonder what paid for it? A big portion was .. corporate tax!

https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/historical-corporate-tax-rates-brackets/

Corporate tax is currently at the lowest point since 1940

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/corporate-tax-rate

See this big drop in corporate tax? You thank ol’ trumpy for that

Along with personal income tax - Note this is the top bracket of tax

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IITTRHB

Want your golden age back? Tax these fucking billionaire grifters.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 94 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Another thing that raising the corporate tax rate does is make it more profitable to re-invest your income into the company. Since they're only taxed on profits they'll pay zero taxes if they make zero profit. How do you do that? Expanding your business, spending money on R&D, and paying your employees more.

Edit: Haha, just kidding, they'll blow it on stock buybacks.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 40 points 3 months ago

Ideally, yes - but until share buybacks are outlawed - companies will just ‘reinvest’ by buying up shares (increasing their price, and thereby existing shareholder wealth), and issuing them as bonuses to their C-suite in lieu of payment.. by-and-large avoiding a lot of the income tax that they would otherwise be due to be paid.

Our current late-stage capitalist corporate system is built upon layers and layers of tax-avoidance and self-enrichment at the cost of society as a whole.

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[–] Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win 136 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Awwww.... Raise it above the old 35% tax rate at least.

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 56 points 3 months ago

It's still a start, and something more likely to get though congress

[–] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 52 points 3 months ago (1 children)

49% is golden. But 28% is a start.

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Staggered based upon gross income just like personal taxes.

Tiny businesses 5% Small businesses 25% Mid sized companies 50%. Mega-corporations wth billions - 95%

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 months ago

One problem with that is that companies could create a ton of subsidiaries or shell companies and move money around in funny ways to keep all of them at the lowest bracket

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[–] Xyre@lemmus.org 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

And index it against inflation. 😉

[–] ours@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

No better: to the cost of living index. That way if they pump prices up like they have in the last few years, they choke themselves with their own rope.

[–] barsquid@lemmy.world 128 points 3 months ago (5 children)

Fucking insane that 28% is a tax hike.

[–] drbluefall@toast.ooo 49 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Should be no less than 90%, like it used to be.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

You have to bear in mind that the "like it used to be" part operated when digital card payments were not a thing. A customer would give you cash, and maybe you would write it down in your taxes, but there was no digital indicator of what actually happened.

Small business owners got to stay afloat by swindling the government, and this was the normal way for centuries.

I'm not saying it's right, just that the high business tax of the past wasn't as effective as you think it was, and will hit extremely differently this time around in the digital era.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago (11 children)

The best thing to have is a variable tax rate that goes up the more profit is made.

That's how it is in my country.

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[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 102 points 3 months ago (5 children)

God I can’t wait until US news headlines aren’t tainted with the name Trump. I’m so tired of it all.

[–] InternetUser2012@lemmy.today 37 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There is one headline with his name that I can't fucking wait to see.

[–] Fuzzy_Red_Panda@lemm.ee 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah me too but then the guy missed.

...Oh wait, you mean the other headline.

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[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago

There’ll always be someone else. But we may have a bit of silence when Trump is gone.

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[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 60 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The amazing economy that these MAGA people dream of getting back to can be largely attributed to two things. The first is lots of manufacturing, which the CHIPS Act is a step in the right direction towards, but is impossible to ever really get back to ever since Nixon opened the door to China as a trade and manufacturing superpower in the 70s, and companies decided to lower costs by sending manufacturing over there. The second is a MUCH higher business tax rate. At one point, it was 91%. I'm not saying that that's the correct rate in the modern economy, but 28% ain't shit. Raise it to 40% at least, and then use that additional revenue to get everyday Americans' heads above water.

I'm an extremely lucky 35-year-old American white guy, married with no kids or pets, denied ourselves several comforts and luxuries, and I'm still just now at a point where I'm trying to buy my first home. I have almost every advantage possible, and I'm still over ten years behind my parents' generation. That shit ain't right. Help us, the people.

[–] Evrala@lemmy.world 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The higher the corporate tax rates the more the companies reinvest into the company to keep profit margins down which causes the economy to flourish rather than funneling as much cash as possible to shareholders.

Companies generally would rather pay their own workers more than pay more in taxes. If you're going to lose the money anyway, might as well spend it keeping your workforce happy than give it to the government.

[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You might be right, but what's silly is that you think companies wouldn't do everything in their power to not reduce pay to both workers and the government at the same time. And they do. In fact, they lobby endlessly to lower their taxes as well as keep wages low, loosen regulations, dismantle the power of unions, roll back labor rights, and take away voting power of the people who would vote against their interests. You need to understand that the entire motivation of these companies is to maximize profit at all costs. "If you're going to lose the money anyway" is not something they have ever or will ever accept. That's like assuming that you accept that you will never eat another scrap of food ever again. Your survival depends upon it, and when access to it is threatened, you will lie and cheat and steal as much as is necessary to ensure your survival.

If the government taxed businesses at a higher rate and used that increased revenue to improve the quality of life and access to opportunities for all, I'd say that that's a much better use of that money. We've tried taxing businesses less in hopes of having anything other than piss trickle down to the workers. That's how we got here. Productivity has boomed, yet wages have stagnated and people are struggling to get by. It's time to stop propagating broken bullshit-ass Reaganomics and start advocating for your fellow human to be able to afford access to the bare minimum of food, shelter, and medical care. The GDP of the US is over $25 TRILLION. So why in the blue fuck are people still freezing and starving to death in this country? Unacceptable.

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 32 points 3 months ago (7 children)

Does it really matter what the rate is when they don't pay it anyway?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/03/13/companies-spend-more-executive-salaries-than-taxes/72941207007/

"The analysis names 35 corporations, including Tesla, Netflix and Ford, that each reportedly spent more on compensation to their five highest-paid executives than they paid in federal income taxes over five years.

Collectively, the 35 corporations spent $9.5 billion on their top executives over that span, the report said, while their combined federal tax bill came to -$1.8 billion: a collective refund."

[–] MagicShel@programming.dev 18 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Imagine if the law was no more can be spent in corporate executive compensation than the company pays in taxes. Idk if that's a good idea for small corporations, but it's a jumping off point.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

We could set it so that companies whose CEO's net worth is less than a half mil are exempt

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (7 children)

Here's a wild idea... tax corporations based on income, not profit.

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[–] Soup@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

Yes, there’s more to be done, obviously.

For someone who clearly knows how fucked the issue is that wording seems almost distracting from the road that will get us to a solution. It’s a good thing, let it happen.

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[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I feel like I pay that now as a peon.

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[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago

The GOP wants to take America back to when it was “great,” as long as “great” ignores when the rich and companies paid their fair share for infrastructure, schools, etc.

God forbid we actually decided to pay for those things again and stopped letting the country rot.

Shocker, things go to shit when you don’t pay for them and or sell them off to private companies. Looking at you, Starliner capsule.

[–] LordCrom@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fuck...I pay that , and more on bonuses I receive.

Let them pay more.

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[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 12 points 3 months ago

This is SO BAD for the Economy! All those Job Creators laying off Tens of Thousands of Workers will MOVE! We need to Tax the HOMELESS instead! I'm Fiscally Responsible Republican!

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

I'm game for over 50% really

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)
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[–] Rapidcreek@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If corporations were being honest, they'd acknowledge that's a bargain.

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Talk about taxing private citizens who have more money than some nations.

[–] zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Pre-80s tax rate for the wealthy was 70%.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 3 months ago

That needs to be restored.

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 months ago

Good step and i hope it leads to a great finish. i.e. >50%

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