Occupy Wall Street - Success

[Klath]

Originally Posted by Shiftin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The tax loophole stuff is talking point nonsense from people who don't actually understand the tax code and the federal budget.

Again, the wealthy are able to game the system in their favor. Case in point:

From: G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether
[...]

A review of company filings and Congressional records shows that one of the most striking advantages of General Electric is its ability to lobby for, win and take advantage of tax breaks.

Over the last decade, G.E. has spent tens of millions of dollars to push for changes in tax law, from more generous depreciation schedules on jet engines to “green energy” credits for its wind turbines. But the most lucrative of these measures allows G.E. to operate a vast leasing and lending business abroad with profits that face little foreign taxes and no American taxes as long as the money remains overseas.
[...]

[Shiftin]

Originally Posted by Klath [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Again, the wealthy are able to game the system in their favor. Case in point:

Why are you equating GE to the wealthy? Because the people who run it are wealthy? Because the company as a whole is large? There is a problem with scale in general that comes up when talking about things like this, health care providers, etc. People see a massive company that employes thousands and thousands of people making profit in the "million" or "billions" and think it's unfair. They don't look at the actual profit margin that company is operating on. If a sole proprietership made those same profit margins, they would be out of business. When a corporation is doing the same thing on a larger scale at a lower margin, they're suddenly evil if their overall profit has the "illion" in it somewhere.

(No I don't think GE should be able to avoid taxes on foreign earned income, but now you're talking about tax treaty problems, which are even more complicated. This is why the discussion is difficult to have with most people.)

[Klath]

Originally Posted by Shiftin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why are you equating GE to the wealthy?

Because it's a huge company that wields massive amounts of money to solve its problems. They can afford lobbyists to bend the law to their favor. My small software company, on the other hand, is stuck with the laws as they are. People and companies with wealth can change the rules. The more they change them the more they entrench their position at the expense of the rest of us.