Another Corporate Tax Holiday Looming???? You Betcha

Corporate Tax Holiday in Debt Ceiling Deal: Where's the Uproar?

 

Matt Taibbi

 

TAIDBLOG

 

Have been meaning to write about this, but I’m increasingly amazed at the overall lack of an uproar about the possibility of the government approving another corporate tax repatriation holiday.

I’ve been in and out of DC a few times in recent weeks and one thing I keep hearing is that there is a growing, and real, possibility that a second “one-time tax holiday” will be approved for corporations as part of whatever sordid deal emerges from the debt-ceiling negotiations.

I passed it off as a bad joke when I first saw news of this a few weeks ago, when it was reported that Wall Street whipping boy Chuck Schumer was seriously considering the idea. Then I read later on that other Senators were jumping on the bandwagon, including North Carolina’s Kay Hagan.

This is what Hagan’s spokesperson said:

Senator Hagan is looking closely at any creative, short-term measures that can get bipartisan support and put people back to work. One such potential initiative is a well-crafted and temporary change to the tax code that encourages American companies to bring money home and put it towards capital, investment, and–most importantly–American jobs.

For those who don’t know about it, tax repatriation is one of the all-time long cons and also one of the most supremely evil achievements of the Washington lobbying community, which has perhaps told more shameless lies about this one topic than about any other in modern history – which is saying a lot, considering the many absurd things that are said and done by lobbyists in our nation’s capital.

Here’s how it works: the tax laws say that companies can avoid paying taxes as long as they keep their profits overseas. Whenever that money comes back to the U.S., the companies have to pay taxes on it.

Think of it as a gigantic global IRA. Companies that put their profits in the offshore IRA can leave them there indefinitely with no tax consequence. Then, when they cash out, they pay the tax.

Only there’s a catch. In 2004, the corporate lobby got together and major employers like Cisco and Apple and GE begged congress to give them a “one-time” tax holiday, arguing that they would use the savings to create jobs. Congress, shamefully, relented, and a tax holiday was declared. Now companies paid about 5 percent in taxes, instead of 35-40 percent.

Money streamed back into America. But the companies did not use the savings to create jobs. Instead, they mostly just turned it into executive bonuses and ate the extra cash. Some of those companies promising waves of new hires have already committed to massive layoffs..

It was bad enough when lobbyists managed to pull this trick off once, in 2004. But in one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington, companies immediately started to systematically “offshore” their profits right after the 2004 holiday with the expectation that somewhere down the road, and probably sooner rather than later, they would get another holiday.

Companies used dozens of fiendish methods to keep profits overseas, including such scams as “transfer pricing,” a technique in which profits are shifted to overseas subsidiaries. A typical example might involve a pharmaceutical company that licenses the rights or the patent to one of its more successful drugs to a foreign affiliate, which in turn manufactures the product and sells it back to the U.S. branch, thereby shifting the profits overseas.

 

Full Article Here>>>>http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/holiday-in-scam...

Views: 67

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Tara on July 22, 2011 at 5:50pm

What's good for the goose should be good for the gander you would think. When is the American people going to get a tax holiday? Of course that'll never happen. You're right Nikki, it is a scam. We're paying for these corporate stooges to sell us down the river. What a friggin joke.

Comment by Nikki on July 22, 2011 at 3:52pm
What a scam!

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

FREEDOMROX posted a blog post
14 hours ago
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
yesterday
cheeki kea posted a photo
yesterday
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Greetings to you John, You're right and it didn't take long for those manuals to totally…"
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government

We now know thanks to the legislation of FOIA access to federal documents and evidence and the…See More
yesterday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
Wednesday
John Miller commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"Brutal post... not sure it’s helping anyone though."
Tuesday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Tartaria: the empire that built half the world's cathedrals, then vanished because someone…"
Tuesday
Burbia commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"This movie portrayed plastic surgery as absurd. I guess the numbers in the real world are growing."
Tuesday
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Redux

"Ah yes, General Jussitri Smolletkov. Good tongzhi. Good tongzhi."
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Unusual Discoveries and Headlines

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tool dated to be 6,000 years old, but even more…See More
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

Inside Texas HOMELESS HELL – Even Cops Don't Dare Step In! - Documentary

In this powerful documentary, we explore the escalating Texas homeless crisis 2025, where cities and rural areas alike are witnessing a disturbing rise in th...
Monday
tjdavis posted a photo
Monday
John Miller replied to MAC's discussion BREAKING! UFO whistleblowers drop BOMBSHELL on D.C. | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris
"Crazy how these whistleblower stories are finally making it into bigger conversations. Makes you…"
Sunday
Burbia favorited tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
Sunday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Comprehensive Coverage

"That car needs an exorcism, not an oil change."
Saturday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
"If the Dems are dating demons, then that AI romance shoot was basically engagement photos."
Saturday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Gave Many Interviews with Mainstream Media
"Wouldn't be surprised if there's a whole lot more buried under the surface here."
Saturday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted