Re:Paradise Papers: Dear Tim Cook
by valuearb on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @11:48AM
(#15654144)
Whether it’s two seperate entities or not, the disincentive is still the same. Investors who want to start a business in the US have to pay > 50% of their profits to taxes before they receive them.
And the high US Corp tax rate isn’t nominal, it’s real. Apple appears to pay a lower rate, but that’s only because of most of it’s profits are earned overseas.
If it paid 10% on two thirds of its earnings earned overseas, and 40% (state and federal income tax) on the one third earned in the US, it looks like only an 19% total income tax rate.
But when it returns the foreign earnings it pays another 40% state/federal on them, for a blended rate of 43%. And shareholders owe dividend and state taxes on top of that.
Tax deferral isn’t avoidance. Even if Apple gets a 10% repatriation holiday, their blended rate is still over 30% and total for shareholders over 40%.
And the high US Corp tax rate isn’t nominal, it’s real. Apple appears to pay a lower rate, but that’s only because of most of it’s profits are earned overseas.
If it paid 10% on two thirds of its earnings earned overseas, and 40% (state and federal income tax) on the one third earned in the US, it looks like only an 19% total income tax rate.
But when it returns the foreign earnings it pays another 40% state/federal on them, for a blended rate of 43%. And shareholders owe dividend and state taxes on top of that.
Tax deferral isn’t avoidance. Even if Apple gets a 10% repatriation holiday, their blended rate is still over 30% and total for shareholders over 40%.