Free Republic

Comparing International Corporate Tax Rates: U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Increasingly Out of Line by Various Measures by Robert Carroll Fiscal Fact No.143 The U.S. has left the major features of its business tax system unchanged over the past fifteen years. Meanwhile, other countries have been changing theirs, potentially hurting the competitiveness of the United States. Perhaps most emblematic of the trend abroad is lower corporate tax rates in virtually all developed nations. As a result, the United States now has the second-highest statutory tax rate among OECD member nations. Figure 1 below tells this story: The U.S. became a low-tax...

Millions of entrepreneurs, teachers and parents with children in college have a financial stake in whether Congress, in the dying hours of Republican rule, revives tax breaks that expired 11 months ago...Residents of Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming - each without an income tax - will miss out on an average $1,500 deduction for state and local sales taxes...Before the election, Republicans tried unsuccessfully to link the tax cuts to a bill that would reduce the estate tax, which most Democrats find unacceptable, and raise the federal minimum wage, which many Republicans dislike.

Business lobbyists are set to square off against state lawmakers who are considering reducing residential property taxes and recoping some of the revenue by raising property tax rates for business. The idea, which would require an amendment to the state constitution, is to be discussed next week at a Sept. 7 legislative committee meeting. It was initially touched on at a committee meeting earlier this month. Business advocates are outraged that the topic is being discussed at all. “From our perspective, that is not reform,” says Jim Leonard, vice president of government relations for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce....

Where you live can have a big impact on how much you pay in taxes each year. The spread, according to numbers crunched by the nonprofit Tax Foundation, might not be enough to make you pull up stakes and move to a new state, but it can give you a case of tax envy. The state and local burden ranges from 6.4% (Alaska) to 13% (Maine).

Colorado businesses might think that with the Colorado fiscal crunch eased thanks to Referendum C, now might be the perfect time to sell tax breaks that stimulate industry in the name of job creation. Actually, say political observers, the exact opposite is true for the 2006 legislative session - and perhaps several sessions thereafter. "The political dynamic is such that no tax-reduction or relief measures would have any chance of passage for the next five years," said Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Auto Dealers Association. "It's just a fact of life." Freed from TABOR restraints Ward said the chamber...

Most businesses - and several business associations - were carefully silent on Measure 30 [a massive increase in income and business taxes to be voted on next Tuesday]. Intel, a bellwether as the largest private employer in the state, kept mum. Associated Oregon Industries was equally coy. And high profile Nike joined the recently created Oregon Business Association to campaign actively for the tax. On reflection, we shouldn't be surprised when businesses don't fight for good economic policies, and at times even fight in favor of bad ones. There's no reason to think business people are much wiser or much...