Comment Re: Yay for "zero tolerance" (Score 5, Interesting) 591
Our ability to learn of crime has vastly outgrown the actual crime rate. Crimes are going down, but reporting/knowledge of the events is growing exponentially.
Royal Bank of Canada is already incorporated in the US. As are most of the other companies you list, sans most of the Chinese ones (banks, telecoms, and oil companies are State-owned). It would be trivial for them to move their board membership/executives to the US as they are already incorporated in the US.
Alibaba and many of the private Chinese companies are actually based in tax havens like Hong Kong, Bermuda, or Cayman Islands for a reason - to reduce taxation. Most companies are not so loyal as you imply - the actual facts of their incorporation showing as much...
Make the corporate tax rate ZERO. Nothing. Make it apply to corporations exclusively headquartered in the US, with at least 51% board members being US residents, and at least 51% of upper management (defined as vice presidents and above) being US residents. You'll see every major company in the world immediately relocate to the US - and most of their higher end employees either relocating or hiring new ones here. Massive gain in income tax (given that these folks tend to be in the top 1% of income earners, and they tend to pay nearly a 24% income tax rate).
My back-of-the-envelope calculations say we'd easily replace the $450 billion or so that we get in corporate income tax - especially since the top 1% already pay about $370 billion in income taxes alone. Double that number of people (which is about what would happen if you brought over most of the top 1000 companies worldwide), and you'll more than double the taxes paid by the top 1% - income tax, excise taxes, taxes on their employees, etc.
Encourage companies to move here and grow our economy, rather than penalizing success overseas. Become the ultimate tax haven, the best place to do business - and watch the economy roar.
Embassies? Military protection? Original education, roads, and infrastructure that got you overseas, rather than keeping you in a hovel in a ghetto? If you don't want to support the country, give up your citizenship. Then you don't need to worry about the US or its taxes or laws unless you come back.
Give up your citizenship, and you get to pay a tax on all assets immediately payable at that time. Even if those assets were 100% earned AND held overseas. Even if they were "received" via marriage. Marry a wealthy foreign citizen and decide to change citizenship? You get to pay an expatriation tax on their holdings they had before your marriage when you give up your citizenship...
Nobody's talking about "taxing other countries".
US law says that, if you're a US citizen, you're liable for US taxes. Doesn't matter where you live or where your money comes from. However, it also recognises that it's not nice to subject citizens residing overseas to double taxation--so if you live in $country and pay $country's taxes on your income there, the US will often accept this as having fulfilled your obligation.
Only up to a fairly moderate level. After that, even if you pay taxes on that additional income in your resident country - you also get to pay US taxes on the same funds. That's why most companies will pay a "tax bonus" to its overseas US employees to compensate for the extra tax they will have to pay. And of course, there is the FBAR forms, and lots of other additional paperwork required since you are overseas - and the US Government wants to ensure it gets every penny (and then some) from wherever it can... Even if you live outside the US for the entire year (essentially using zero of the US Federal resources).
Because hiding your profits overseas is some sort of essential liberty, right?
The profits were earned overseas, mostly from products and services created by non-Americans and sold to non-Americans. There is no rationale reason for America to be taxing these profits.
No, there's plenty of rationale for such a tax. There are one trillion such reasons - our annual cash deficit. The President simply wants more money to spread around, to buy more votes and influence for those he cares about (and to punish those who oppose him). It's a highly immoral and illogical rationale - but it's a rationale, nevertheless.
Then again if the companies adapt to the situation and just accept open-source code was it really bad? =P
Give them the code under GPL.
Yes, because China has such a WONDERFUL legacy of recognizing and abiding by International intellectual property rights treaties - the GPL will show them!
"The Microsofts, Apples & Oracles - they could remain profitable in the rest of the world, and just not report the sort of growth daytraders want."
And risk lawsuits, shareholders jumping ship, etc.
Probably not. Google doesn't play with the Chinese Government - and it's one of the reasons it's such a pain to use any of their properties/sites in China. No shareholder revolt over that. It's not the corporate system that is inherently evil - it is the people at the top that tend to put their own personal gain over that of the corporation who are evil.
You sir, are an idiot. The Aleutian Islands encompass some of the most productive fisheries in the world. You want you King Crab to glow in the dark?
It would make them a lot easier to handle on deck of the ship, what with the dark and harsh lights and all...
"May your future be limited only by your dreams." -- Christa McAuliffe
