Obama proposes $238bn tax on overseas profits to fund road and public transport projects
42 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31085912[/url]
[quote]US President Barack Obama plans to close a tax loophole that allows US firms to avoid paying taxes on overseas profits, the White House says.
His 2016 budget will impose a one-off 14% tax on US profits stashed overseas, as well as a 19% tax on any future profits as they are earned.
The $238bn (£158bn) raised will be used to fund road projects in the US.
The proposal is one of the main components of Mr Obama's latest budget, due to be presented on Monday.[/quote]
awesome, roads and public transport are really lacking in some areas of the country, it would be great to update them.
[QUOTE=Schmaaa;47057568]awesome, roads and public transport are really lacking in some areas of the country, it would be great to update them.[/QUOTE]
Some? Try almost everywhere.
Upstate New York resident here - can confirm that roads are shit
the big thing is, most of these (if not all of these) buisnesses that take their HQ overseas as a tax dodge, still use american infastructure, and benefit from it without paying into it. i wonder though if the republicans will come up with a way to defend their indefensible position, last july when burger king got all that shit about offshoring, i didn't see a single republican that could come up with a good reason as to why they should be allowed to move all their money out of the country because they have one office in canada
I hate to be a pessimist, but I can't see this endeavour surviving in the new Congress. The Tea Party will definitely see this as another attack on big corporations.
[QUOTE=Cheshire_cat;47057788]I hate to be a pessimist, but I can't see this endeavour surviving in the new Congress. The Tea Party will definitely see this as another attack on big corporations.[/QUOTE]
I suppose Obama now has the opportunity to say to do just about anything he wishes, whether good or bad because he's got little time left with a Congress that is opposed to him.
another thing, there's a lot of defense contractors that do this, which should be completely illegal unless they are legitimately a foreign company, if you're taking uncle sam's money you should at least pay back the taxes you owe
[editline]1st February 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;47057797]I suppose Obama now has the opportunity to say to do just about anything he wishes, whether good or bad because he's got little time left with a Congress that is opposed to him.[/QUOTE]
honestly the more shit he gives the republicans to look over and talk about the more divided they get, and he gets virtually no backlash.
its like throwing meat into a dog-pen, he's not got anything to loose, the tea-party is already tearing away from the republican camp on many "traditionalist" issues anyways, especially since the republicans are going to have to make a shift left as the election draws near
i was recently plotting a road trip to nevada and when i got the the california/nevada highway border in street view i saw this:
[t]http://i.cubeupload.com/ydbn0u.jpg[/t]
[editline]1st February 2015[/editline]
well uh you get the idea
Suck shit Apple. Biggest tax dodger of the modern world.
They literally have billions in overseas accounts.
[QUOTE=deathmog;47057632]Upstate New York resident here - can confirm that roads are shit[/QUOTE]
Michigan resident here, will check to see if roads are shit as soon as I can find them.
wow imagine the united states actually spending money on anything other than the defense budget
What a time to be alive
Now, I live in Canada and can't really say I've got a lot of experience south of the border, but one thing I always notice when crossing from the Greater Toronto Area to New York State is that the second you get over the border, roads turn to utter shit. Cracks and potholes everywhere. Is that a relatively bad area, or is it like that all over?
I'd be shocked if this passes because of the large as fuck amount of politicians that have vowed never to raises taxes on a governmental level for anything.
It would be great, but I doubt it is going to happen.
[QUOTE=archangel125;47058215]Now, I live in Canada and can't really say I've got a lot of experience south of the border, but one thing I always notice when crossing from the Greater Toronto Area to New York State is that the second you get over the border, roads turn to utter shit. Cracks and potholes everywhere. Is that a relatively bad area, or is it like that all over?[/QUOTE]
It varies state by state, there's a visible and audible decline in road quality when you cross the Ohio-Michigan border as well. In general though it's all pretty bad.
Every public system has a group of people specifically labelled as "free-riders". These are described as individuals utilizing a public system without specifically paying into the maintenance and construction costs of said system.
In this case, the free-riders are multi-national corporations that pull [b]billions[/b] of dollars out of the United States each year for their own massive gains. If you feel sorry that they're being taxed [b]once[/b] to pay for the sustained ability of this nation to transport goods, services, and people?
You're either a corporate puppet or an absolute stuge.
How will it go to roads, though? Taxes go into a general fund, which is drawn from for all spending.
[QUOTE=darunner;47058380]How will it go to roads, though? Taxes go into a general fund, which is drawn from for all spending.[/QUOTE]
Money goes into pool, big infrastructure spending bill needs money, draws from pool.
The same way your paycheck gets spread out between different expenses and needs.
American infrastructure is pathetic and an embarrassment. Glad to see it is getting the spotlight, however, it is a shame knowing that Democrats don't have the majority any longer in order to make this a reality.
I wonder how this will affect Bernie sanders campaign in 2016, his supposed campaign is to run on a new deal kind of infrastructure reconstruction plan for 1 trillion $
Driving the interstate through seattle is like driving on cobblestone.
[QUOTE=DesolateGrun;47058479]I wonder how this will affect Bernie sanders campaign in 2016, his supposed campaign is to run on a new deal kind of infrastructure reconstruction plan for 1 trillion $[/QUOTE]
If anything, this will lay the groundwork and political debate for 2016.
[QUOTE=archangel125;47058215]Now, I live in Canada and can't really say I've got a lot of experience south of the border, but one thing I always notice when crossing from the Greater Toronto Area to New York State is that the second you get over the border, roads turn to utter shit. Cracks and potholes everywhere. Is that a relatively bad area, or is it like that all over?[/QUOTE]
It really varies state to state. Some DOTs like MODOT take good care of their roads IMO.
This will be a beaurocratic nightmare for small US businesses. They'll now have to pay US sales tax AND have a EU vat liability on EU sales. That's a lot of tax.
[QUOTE=Flapadar;47059314]This will be a beaurocratic nightmare for small US businesses. They'll now have to pay US sales tax AND have a EU vat liability on EU sales. That's a lot of tax.[/QUOTE]
The tax avoidance schemes this is targeting are from huge corps like Apple and Google and Microsoft that can totally afford it. I don't know many mom-and-pop joints that have an Irish subsidiary with a PO box office address that collects all their money for them for tax purposes.
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;47058406]Money goes into pool, big infrastructure spending bill needs money, draws from pool.
The same way your paycheck gets spread out between different expenses and needs.[/QUOTE]
"The new funds in this pool is for the roads"
"oohh, I have a pet project, let me just take a little since it is full of cash" (multiple by a billion)
"Crap, where did all the money for the roads go, guess we'll have to raise taxes to get something for them"
All freeways/highways/roads in Michigan (when they aren't covered in snow) are a joke. Everyone has to swerve all over the road/lanes to avoid massive potholes. There are areas of freeway where it's unlevel because there's a layer of it missing in some chunks of the lane from being scrapped off by snow trucks. If there aren't potholes there's literally a big crack going straight accross the road every 6 feet from the joints in the concrete buckling.
Oh, but then you have the 3-5 man construction team blocking a lane with a big truck full of asphalt. They dump a little bit into a hole, [b]tap it down with a shovel[/b] and call it fixed. They re-open the lane, cars drive over it and spread it all over and it doesn't get filled properly. Then a snow truck goes over it and rips out everything they poured in. Stupid.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;47059080]It really varies state to state. Some DOTs like MODOT take good care of their roads IMO.[/QUOTE]
Tennessean here. Can confirm TDOT knows what the fuck they're doing. Freeways are butter smooth, and hell even in my hick-ass part of the countryside they still pay attention to the roads. The one I live on, which on peak usage might see one car per hour and can at times go 24 hours plus without a single vehicle passing by my house, got repaved not three years ago.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;47057608]Some? Try almost everywhere.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=LoganIsAwesome;47058471]American infrastructure is pathetic and an embarrassment. Glad to see it is getting the spotlight, however, it is a shame knowing that Democrats don't have the majority any longer in order to make this a reality.[/QUOTE]
I agree that our public transit is crap but roads? Have you guys ever tried driving in Ireland, Belgium, or like, anywhere in Africa or Asia? Our road system is seriously amongst the best-maintained in the world, and that's a hell of an accomplishment considering how much road there actually is.
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;47059385]The tax avoidance schemes this is targeting are from huge corps like Apple and Google and Microsoft that can totally afford it. I don't know many mom-and-pop joints that have an Irish subsidiary with a PO box office address that collects all their money for them for tax purposes.[/QUOTE]
The tax avoidance comes from businesses housing their money off-shore. They don't get a free ride, they still have to pay tax on any profits made in the US, they just avoid being taxed a second time for having their company located in the US.
Once a company completes a tax reversal move, they're no more an American company than any other foreign-based company operating in the US. So in increasing taxes on foreign businesses to try to extract a little more tax revenue from the Apples and Burger Kings, they're also probably going to discourage European and Chinese companies that make up substantial parts of our foreign-based domestic market.
So yeah, Apple can afford it. Can a mom-and-pop store in Ireland that happens to export to the US? Don't know. Maybe the new tax will only hit extremely rich companies that are so heavily invested in the US that they can't afford to pull out. Or maybe it will hit everybody operating in the US and smaller firms will have to close shop. We'll have to see the wording of the budget to know.
[QUOTE=catbarf;47060149]I agree that our public transit is crap but roads? Have you guys ever tried driving in Ireland, Belgium, or like, anywhere in Africa or Asia? Our road system is seriously amongst the best-maintained in the world, and that's a hell of an accomplishment considering how much road there actually is.
The tax avoidance comes from businesses housing their money off-shore. They don't get a free ride, they still have to pay tax on any profits made in the US, they just avoid being taxed a second time for having their company located in the US.
Once a company completes a tax reversal move, they're no more an American company than any other foreign-based company operating in the US. So in increasing taxes on foreign businesses to try to extract a little more tax revenue from the Apples and Burger Kings, they're also probably going to discourage European and Chinese companies that make up substantial parts of our foreign-based domestic market.
So yeah, Apple can afford it. Can a mom-and-pop store in Ireland that happens to export to the US? Don't know. Maybe the new tax will only hit extremely rich companies that are so heavily invested in the US that they can't afford to pull out. Or maybe it will hit everybody operating in the US and smaller firms will have to close shop. We'll have to see the wording of the budget to know.[/QUOTE]
American infrastructure is rated at a D+. Yes, our interstate is very impressive. But maintained? No, not at all. As you can see, there are other people in this thread, and countless millions whom can vouch for this. And I hope you're kidding with saying that countries in Asia and Europe don't have nicely maintained roads. Some spend almost 5% of their GDP on infrastructure.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.