The Tax Reform Act Of 1986

While most taxpayers agree that tax reform is necessary for our country the problem they encounter is the difficulty they experience when trying to understand all the political terms used when discussing tax reform. This paper is an attempt to help the taxpayers of our country to better understand the political terminology and gain knowledge about some of the proposals that have been explored.

period to complete each in-class quiz. Each quiz will be graded based on 50 points.

Both coauthors explain “the myth of corporate taxes” with two statements: “When it comes down to it, no corporation or business really pays taxes,” and therefore, “the burden of it all falls on us [the taxpayers]” (32). They continue their explanation with another claim: “The economic education of Americans is so woefully inadequate that many of us actually think we pay less as individuals when the taxes are transferred to businesses and corporations” (31). To illustrate their point, the authors created a fictional corporation with simple guidelines. Although not their actual example, the following is similar: Qwerty Inc., a manufacturer of computer keyboards, has 200 employees and 100 shareholders. At the end of the year, Qwerty Inc. sold 1000 keyboards at $100 dollars each; therefore, the yearly income was $100,000. After labor, cost, taxes, and other charges, Qwerty’s profit is $2000 for the year. If the government adds a 10% corporate tax increase, Qwerty now owes an additional $200 in taxes. According to Boortz and Linder’s logic, Qwerty has several possibilities to balance the budget from the tax increase: the shareholders could see their dividends decrease, the price on the keyboards could be raised, some employees could be fired to save on cost, or employee benefits could decrease to cover the cost of the tax increase. This simple example demonstrates the current tax code’s consequences on the taxpayers (citizens and consumers) and introduces “the embedded

Heated debates over tax cut have always been one of the central economic themes on the American political table. Since taxes relate directly to the quality of lives, it is by no means surprising to find people showing significant concern about policies regarding cutting or raising the amount they have to pay. The idea that lowering tax rate makes room for growth has remained generally popular among the majority, taking a possible decrease in individuals’ tax burden and increase in productivity into account. There is, however, extensive research conducted on the topic that produced controversial results. Despite its appeal to instant benefits for one’s saving account and investment, reducing tax rate has yet to show a definite positive effect

However, raising taxes on the rich and corporations is not as helpful to our economy as most people think. Although raising taxes on the top percent of people and companies appears to create more income for the government, the result will make it harder for middle class and lower class citizens to grow. Some argue that by combining several key changes, including the simplification of the tax code to avoid loopholes and the decrease of taxes on the rich and corporations, there will be an improvement in the national economy. Although this may seem a bit counterintuitive, it makes more sense when looked at closely. By lower taxes and remove all loopholes, smaller businesses are given further opportunities to grow instead of facing financial roadblocks and government

The tax policy in the United States is very confusing. When the tax policy was originally written in 1913 it was four hundred pages. Now, over the past ninety one years, that tax policy has evolved to over 72,000 pages. Since the tax code has become so lengthy and nearly impossible to understand, the topic of tax reform has been in the minds of many. Although, most barely think about tax reform until tax season. It is a controversial subject due to the impact a change in tax code would have on the American people. The two most popular and widely known stakeholders in this debate are the two major political parties in the United States, the Democrats and the Republicans. The two parties share absolutely no common ground on the subject of

Business taxes can have a huge impact on the profitability of businesses and the amount of business investment. Taxation is a very important factor in the financial investment decision-making process because a lower tax burden allows the company to lower prices or generate higher revenue, which can then be paid out in wages, salaries and/or dividends. Business taxes include, Federal Income Tax; a tax levied by a national government on annual income, Payroll Tax; a tax an employer withholds and/or pays on behalf of their employees based on the wage or salary of the employee, Unemployment Tax; a federal tax that is allocated to unemployment agencies to fund unemployment assistance for laid-off workers, and Sales Tax; a tax imposed by the government at the point of sale on retail goods and services. Sales tax is based on a percentage of the selling prices of the goods and services. Consumers pay sales taxes, but effectively, business pay them since the tax increases consumer’s costs and causes them to buy less.

In the article “Job One: Tax Code Rewrite,” William O’Keefe, an author who cares about tax reform, argues that the Obama Administration should rewrite the tax code in order to reduce the unemployment rate. He supports this claim with a formal tone by using opinions and anecdotes as evidence. According to William, we need “systematic reforms to our tax code and regulatory policy.” The author targets a tax reform audience that cares about the economy. William’s purpose is to persuade readers that Obama’s stimulus tax bill will not help the economy or business in the long run. This work is significant because it challenges the Obama Administration to rethink their priorities.

With the presidential elections coming up, different tax policies are being debated between the candidates. Whether it is proposed by a Democratic or a Republican presidential candidate, there have been many possible solutions presented on how to reform the current tax code. Focusing specifically on four candidates, two from the Democratic Party, and two from the Republican Party, I will compare and contrast their respective tax proposals. While the Democratic candidates generally agree with President Obama’s current tax code, all four candidates are looking to reform it in some way in order to, in their own eyes, better the current tax code affecting today’s citizens.

This article by Mathew Yglesias is about the up and coming tax reform the Republican party is trying to promote and pass before the years end. It explains how this affects businesses, upper, middle, and lower classes of individuals to. It defines tax reform and gives examples of how it could affect everyone. It talks about what good can come from the proposed reform and describes the Senate ‘Byrd Rule” in somewhat generic terms for understanding. Throughout the article both sides are represented in what they want in the new reform bill and gives a brief list of what Republicans are trying to push through the Senate. It supplies a table of how much the government receives now and how the cuts effect certain programs. It gives a brief history

“The United States has the highest corporate tax rate of the 34 developed, free-market nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The marginal corporate tax rate in the United States is 35% at the federal level… according to the 2013 OECD Tax Database. The global average is much lower, at 25%” (Fontinelle, 2014). Even though there are ways for businesses to decrease or even avoid these payments, this high figure deters foreign investors from considering the United States for business and sends them looking in more favorable countries like Canada or Ireland. Adding to pushing away potential foreign investors, U.S. firms flee to those tax favorable places to avoid it. “When these companies move their headquarters or create foreign subsidiaries, jobs and profits move overseas” (Fontinelle,

Americans may ponder the thought of struggling economy barely gaining momentum while corporations have witnessed some of the largest quarterly profits ever recorded. The driving force behind the extreme profits gained by many corporations is simply put as tax inversion. Tax inversion is nothing more than an American firm combining with a foreign firm in a country with beneficial and lucrative tax laws (Financial Times, 2014). The American headquarters will now be moved to the new foreign firm where they will enjoy the lower taxes and evade the taxation of the United States government (Financial Times, 2014). More and more American firms have been taking advantage of inversion while still being able to enjoy sales in the American market.

The Republican administration of Donald Trump presented an ambitious tax reform, making emphasis in a strong tax cut for individuals and companies, this is just a proposal for now, in what anticipates a long and never-ending debates in the Congress to get the approval. Examining how changes to individual and companies tax will affect long-term economy grows. The structure of such changes is critical to achieve what in the future could bring economic growth, the ultimate purpose of any government in the world. This work will try to analyze the pros and cons, consequences for our country and abroad, and finally have the criteria if this is viable for our economy, showing some statistics and graphics for a better

The United States is in a recession; it has been facing some of the worse economic times since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. One option to fix the economy is to change the corporate tax rate. To lower it or to raise it, that is the question economists have been speculating. America's high corporate tax rate and worldwide system of taxation discourages U.S. companies from sending their foreign-source revenue home, which makes U.S. companies defenseless to foreign acquisition from the international opponents (Camp). Corporations and United States citizens have been fighting for a tax reform, which would hopefully help the American economy; either by lowering the corporate tax, or by raising the tax.

Political: Major changes to how large businesses are taxed could loom as a new President will be in charge