[gjmacd]

No corporation with a good tax team pays anything more than 20% of taxes. This idea that 15% is going to really be THE thing that spurns business, well, it might work initially, but the reality is, it will just create more federal debt (think Bush tax cuts of 2003). Also, the current tax codes (loop holes) are too favorable for corps. With the proposed lower corp. base tax rate it will just make it easier for corporations to not pay ANYTHING. Wonderful, if it wasn't hard enough to fund schools and roads, now we'll make it even harder. How about simply closing OFF the tax loopholes, give corporations "kickers" to earn tax credits on hiring in the US and other things that could help. Giving them 15% right off the top -- that's so Trump, it's insulting.

[humanrebar]

> No corporation with a good tax team pays anything more than 20% of taxes

Seems like a good reason to level the playing field, no? We want businesses to succeed by providing better products and services at better prices, not by being extra good at bureaucratic arbitrage.

[ncallaway]

Okay, but _just_ lowering the top-line number doesn't do anything about that. It just lowers the top-line number.

If he was proposing making the top-line number 15% and removing all deductions and credits, then you'd have a more compelling point.

Myself, I'm going to wait until a full tax plan comes out before passing judgement one way or another. One number devoid of context tells us nothing.

[humanrebar]

I mostly agree, but reducing the spread does decrease the handicap a bit.

[tmaly]

If you look at large corporations like GE they already pay almost zero percent tax using all sorts of tricks.

I think normalizing the tax rate to what the rest of the developed world has and making it simpler would bring the biggest benefit to smaller businesses such as mom and pop shops.

[tzs]

> No corporation with a good tax team pays anything more than 20% of taxes.

That's not true. Companies with large domestic brick-and-mortar businesses that account for most of their income often pay a lot more than that. CVS pays about 34%. Costco and Walmart pay about 30%. Most of the tricks with foreign tax havens or intellectual property licensing don't work for their kinds of business.

[return0]

maybe big corporations can afford to reduce their taxes, but small companies can't.

[gjmacd]

^^^ that. GE pays nothing, CVS pays more. Why do you think that is?