THE LEFT NEEDS TO PICK A BETTER VILLAIN …
We’ve heard a lot of bitching and moaning lately about “inversion,” which is the term for when American companies locating their corporate headquarters in foreign countries in an effort to avoid paying the federal government’s exorbitant corporate tax rate.
For those of you keeping score at home, the “Land of the Free” boasts the highest corporate tax rate in the world – a whopping 40 percent levy.
But hey … let’s not question the efficacy of that insanely high tax rate, let’s instead get mad at companies who have the audacity to try and stay afloat or – God forbid – even expand and create jobs. Which is exactly what liberal America is doing.
“Burger King’s decision to abandon the United States means consumers should turn to Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers or White Castle sliders,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Really, dude?
What is the professional left’s visceral hatred for fast food companies? Seriously … last month Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made a play to dramatically expand McDonalds’ liability by targeting its franchise system (part of an effort to make it easier for fast food workers to unionize).
What do these people not get?
Fast food employment has been expanding at a four percent annual clip this year … with more than eight million Americans getting paychecks from the industry. Are these really the people we want to be attacking?
Don’t boycott Burger King. Lower the damn corporate tax rate so companies have an incentive to build their headquarters here – not elsewhere.
66 comments
You want fries with that?
BK is owned by a Brazilian private equity fund, so this story isn’t really about an American firm leaving the country. It is about foreign capital buying an American company and then pulling up its American roots. It happens all around the world and often American private equity firms play the bad guy, buying foreign companies and then offshoring them from the countries where they were based.
“BK is owned by a Brazilian private equity fund”
All those cutter-and-canner cattle grown on former rainforest have to go somewhere.
And by the way, this article is stupid if you don’t mention that the effective tax rate for Fortune 500 companies is 19% once they factor in all their deductions and loopholes.
I don’t eat fast food very often, but I think it makes total sense to support an American company over one owned by Brazilians and based in Canada. Or are you just against supporting American companies?
Mentioning effective tax rates hurts the talking point.
“The rent is [still] too damn high.”
I imagine that BK has a better handle on where its tax burden is higher than anyone on this board. It should be self-evident that a company would not be willing to take on the transaction costs involved in such a move if there were not substantial savings to be realized. That’s the problem with progressive economics – they require people to act against their interests. A wise person might rethink the policies that are driving the companies away. Seems preferable than doubling down with the nationalistic nonsense the left is spouting.
BTW: the corporate tax rate in Russia is 12%. The. Personal Income Tax in Russia is 13% with an exemption of more than $175,000 per person
At 19% “the rent is too damn high”.
FYI: Russian flat income tax is 13% for both corporations and individuals, but individuals have an effective initial deduction of $175,000.00 (equivalent).
Now, same, same in Georgia and Crimea (and soon, eastern Ukraine).
BK has been in business for decades and already thrives on shit paid employees, what more do they need to “survive”? You make it sound like Burger King is sitting on the street corner with the homeless begging for bus fare.
BK is shedding tax burden, which means others are going to pick up the tab for them. I’d say that is a problem.
Big Brother again. McDonald’s Free Coupon ad is next to this article.
We know what type of crap you click on.
I have never clicked on the chinesewomen.com, but they must know that I have traced the curves with my mouse.
Relax you’ll still get the same shits and cramps you usually get from BK.
Business 101, taxes are a debit not a credit on the balance sheet. Consumers pay corporate taxes, they are cost of doing business just like a hamburger patty.
Correctimundo on who pays the “corporate tax”.
So how about this solution to the corporate tax complaints: eliminate the corporate tax, but increase the capital gains tax, the tax on stock dividends and on high corporate executive compensation? As the Republicans love to do, make it “revenue neutral”.
This would not impact the workers or increase to cost of the product, but would eliminate such loopholes as “inversion” and having foreign subsidiaries claim all the profit, while the domestic divisions claim all the costs and debt.
All income should be taxed at the same percentage (you pick the percentage)…be it wages, capital gains or stock dividends and eliminate ALL deductions.
I have no problem with corporate taxes, just lower them and eliminate ALL deductions. If the Feds want 10% of every hamburger sold I have no problem with that, just like I have no problem with the state and local governments getting their fair share.
What I do have a problem with, the rising percentage of people that pay no income tax at all.
An AEI blogger has proposed something similar, although he would eliminate the corporate rate entirely and make it up with a higher capital gains rate for the reasons he spells out. http://www.aei.org/article/economics/why-corporations-shouldnt-pay-any-taxes/
These are the types of reforms Republicans should be pursuing. Maintain net revenue while streamlining the code and rebalancing the incentives for entrepeneurs and businesses to grow their businesses. One of the first items I would want to see go is the deduction for state taxes paid. Why should the federal government subsidize excessive state spending? Let blue state liberals feel the pain from their fiscal excesses.
Given the insane levels of debt and spending in this country, no one should be calling for a stand alone tax cut. Don’t get me wrong – we pay too much. But first we need to get our finances in order before we could even dream of lowering taxes.
” just like I have no problem with the state and local governments getting their fair share.”
Spoken like a true progressive.
“eliminate ALL deductions.” …”What I do have a problem with, the rising percentage of people that pay no income tax at all.”
Does that sound like a true progressive?
Duh!
Spoken like a true “progressive” Fascist.
“All income should be taxed at the same percentage (you pick the percentage) …”
OK, how about picking a tax percentage of 0.1% of every transaction? That would produce more Uncle Sam revenue than the total income tax revenue, corporate and private.
That would be US$0.01 on every Happy Meal.
(FYI: The bond market is more than US$1 Trillion Dollars per day = @ 0.1% that would be a “tax” of US$1 Billion Dollars Per Day. The combined paper flipping on Wall Street and Chicago Bored of Trade, stocks, bonds, commodities, et al = US$13 Trillion Dollars Per Day … Go figure … Or is the Common Core Math too much for ya’ all?)
“… eliminate the corporate tax, but increase the capital gains tax, the tax on stock dividends and on high corporate executive compensation? …”
How about this: Abolish the IRS altogether. That would be totally “revenue neutral” as without that g’ment rake off of the top, corporate and individual taxpayer income would surge, making the banks and market manipulators the only g’ment target. … And those business types could afford to hire someone besides illegals.
So, of course, when BK completes its relocation to Canada and then is basking in that idyllic land of lower taxes and national health insurance, the prices on all the swill they sell in the U.S. will go down. Right? Isn’t the the hallowed “free market” works?
Don’t you mean BK Brazil?
Yes it is and it will. But we will have to Abolish the IRS, first.
And it is not an “idyllic” land. It is the USA of the first 125 years, before the “progressive” income tax.
Accounting 101, tax expense is an income statement account. If you’re talking about a tax liability on the balance sheet, that account will have a credit balance. A debit balance on the balance sheet indicates an asset or equity.
Really, where does the hamburger patty fit in?
If you can’t keep something as simple as debits and credits straight, then a conversion about price elasticity of demand’s implications for cost sharing of taxes between the business and the consumer isn’t likely to be fruitful.
If there are no consumers there are no taxes.
Go ahead make it as difficult as possible, you must work for the IRS?
Into some g’ment taxsuckers pocket. Duh!
I haven’t frequented BK in years since they down-sized the “Whopper” (I remember when a “Whopper” was 49 cents back in ’68-’69!!!!!). Used to be the perfect fast food combination would have been a BK “Whopper” and McD’s fries. Those days are over
McD’s should “pivot” this to “Corporate Headquarters proudly located in USA”
However, both establishments pretty much suck these days when it comes to “eats” IMHO…..
McD’s is only fit for jumping off the Interstate to grab some “road food” on the way to the beach and you can pretty much forget about BK.
Sic Willie math (he told us what his undergrad major was): 40>55. Seems 55% is the corporate tax rate in the UAE but per Sic Willie 40% is the highest rate in the world.
Facts have little sway on this site.
Even the 40% rate is incorrect.
Second lowest EFFECTIVE corporate rate in the world. A third of Fortune 500 companies (which, like all big businesses and banks, have seen their profits SKYROCKET under “socialist” Obama) either pay nothing at all or receive millions in “negative taxes”
So Canada, with their ‘socialized medicine’ has lower taxes rates than the U.S.?
I must have missed something….”socialized medicine” and “corporate tax rates.” Oh wait! You mean apples and oranges?
Now I see.
No, obviously you don’t see. I’ll help you connect the dots. The Tea Party is always saying Obamacare will bankrupt the country and cause taxes to rise. Canada has single payer, universal coverage and yet their corporate tax rate is supposedly lower than ours.
You’re exactly right. I don’t see. I couldn’t care less what the Tea Party says–or doesn’t. However, the successes or failures of a state utilizing socialized medicine is far from dispositive of the same state’s successes or failures with respect to its corporate tax practices.
If you can connect those dots, then I’ll be extremely impressed. I think you’ll find that your first comment was quite shallow.
Not shallow, just over your head. I can’t do much about that.
I was pointing out the glaring juxtaposition between the reality and the contention that socialized medicine leads to exorbitant taxes.
Correct, you cannot enlighten me any further through this comment board. For that, I apologize. While I can certainly see your hyperbole, I still believe it is too far a stretch to apply a “cause and effect” relationship between the economics of a health care industry and the specifically individualized nature of corporate tax rates.
I’ll be fine with agreeing to disagree.
“Correct, you cannot enlighten me any further …”
Got it.
Supra, comment following Lisa (above)
Oh wait! Now who’s selling apples and oranges?
Again…same response as above. I would advise that you abstain from drawing political conclusions pertaining to me. I would wager quite a bit that you will be wrong.
I will apologize if I have drawn a hasty conclusion for a vague generalization. But, not if not.
Indeed, surely a vague generalization would not include lumping healthcare economics and corporate taxes into the same balance sheet…
All questions about which is “a tax” and which is “a benefit” can be resolved easily: It is Us against Them, taxpayers against taxsuckers, always and forever if the “progressive” Fascists have their way.
All discussions about Health Care Economics are thus, for sure. BummerCare is a tax, pure and simple, and the Supreme Court has said as much. And it is a tax on the “middle class”. And it is a tax of ~US$500.00 (+/-) per year on “the poor”, due and payable anytime any agent of g’ment says so.
Indeed any discussion about any of the vast and sundry welfare programs is to be paid for, ultimately, by someone, either by “the rich” or “the poor”.
Interestingly, most g’ment employees and way too many g’ment contractors and unions have been allowed to “opt out” of BummerCare, effectively giving Them this huge, semi-automatic “deduction” … So it must be obvious, there is no economic distinction between “affordable health care” and the income taxes, corporate or individual, as applied to these particular discussion.
“… “socialized medicine” and “corporate tax rates.” Oh wait! You mean apples and oranges?”
No. In this country, they are one and the same = both are designed to increase taxes. (You must have missed that Supreme Court decision.)
Careful. Your sarcasm assumes way too much
Mmmmm … Then you did see that Supreme Pontification?
I did see this. I may (or may not) be in agreement with your “Pontification.” Just please don’t bring up different “pots” or “colors” of money.
If you recognize this hyperbole….then I may have said too much.
Yes. And Canada spends its “internal revenue” on things that matter, like Canadian National Parks. (Canadian gasoline/diesel taxes pay for the all of the roads … and then some.)
The next time I see a BK ad waxing poetically about America and how much they love “the troops,” I’ll think about them fleeing to Canada.
Next time a corporation pays a 40% tax rate, I will have sex with a band of midgets. Because that is a fucking myth. Why do you perpetuate stupid shit on this site???
The “marginal” rate is 35%. Add on state rates. Fact is that by doing nothing but filing incorporation documents and not moving any jobs, BK saves a lot of money and that is why many companies are doing it.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonhartley/2014/08/25/burger-kings-tax-inversion-and-canadas-favorable-corporate-tax-rates/
Hey, thumper! I’m not into midgets, can I have sex with you?
Mark 9:23 “If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short …”
BK LOUNGE ?
Cut da gangsta rap ebonics.
Coolio yesterday now De La Soul.
TBG heard that the Dairy Queen got pregnant because the Burger King forgot to wrap his Whopper.
Never seen Daily Queen but Burger King is creepy. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/08/20/burger-king-dethrones-its-creepy-king-mascot/
Admit it.
You “woke up with the king” once or twice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxBX3bpVCh0
The Hamburglar is more my type.
http://mcdonalds.wikia.com/wiki/Hamburglar
“… Don’t boycott Burger King. Lower the damn corporate tax rate so companies have an incentive to build their headquarters here – not elsewhere.”
Almost exactly. We could just Abolish the IRS.